Fast Car
by teehee01360
Summary: This is a story of a boy with little to no hope for a better future meeting another who disregards his own. When you start from nothing, what else is there to lose? Get yourself a ticket to anywhere. Let him take you in his car and speed away. Maybe, with him, you can find what it means to actually live. Deeply inspired by the song Fast Car. AU. SasuNaru :D
1. Prologue

This is my first story that I actually had the guts to put into writing. Be gentle with me. I guess I'm just so damn lazy to actually write the little things that come into my head. I digress. Here's my shot at a Naruto fanfiction. Yay for me!

Disclaimer: Proper citations should be noted. The materials used for the making of this story are credited to their respective owners. Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto, and the song Fast Car by Tracy Chapman (and whoever her production agency is). This is not a songfic. Just saying.

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**FAST CAR**

**Prologue**

All is silent as the chilly air whispers its song into the trees. Soft promises of perpetual solace spread across the leaves, slowly creeping its way to its destination. Accompanying the soft melody is the full silver moon reaching her peak; unhurriedly preparing herself for her descent into the horizons. The enchanting beauty of the moon's light, visible on the black canvas of the night sky, cascades onto a long and winding mountain range that seemingly stretches into eternity. Awakened by the moons caress, the mountain reveals its man-made treasure. A meandering road leading to a clump of bright lights signalling a pseudo paradise for two individuals who've gone astray along life's course.

The air carrying the soft melody is left unheard by these two souls as the hum of the speeding black vehicle holding the weary travellers overpowers the tune. Endless black irises stray from the seemingly infinite road and places its attention onto a resting form showing signs of its gradual stirrings. The set of charcoal eyes catches a glimpse of dull blue ones even after the moon grants the latter her otherworldly glow. As eyes resembling the moon's canvas try to refocus its attention forward, the passenger jerks harshly, recalling the previously wavering attention back to the steadily growing excitable form.

The City.

Blue eyes stay intent on the bright lights exuding from the metropolis. The passenger hurriedly opens his window and stretches his head out; letting the chilly night air flow across his hair and enter the confines of their vehicle. Finally, the song filled with soft promise reaches the ears of its desired audience . Reassuming his previous position, the passenger fixes himself on his seat although barely able to contain his mirth. The glow of the moon blends in with the city lights and bathes both figures with its offered comfort. A set of blue slowly direct themselves onto a set of dark ones and glitter with evident delight. Losing track of their journey and their destination, onyx eyes fall deep into the spell of shimmering blue...

No

Cornflower eyes.


	2. Chapter 1

Well. I'm actually getting pretty in to this. I haven't written for leisure in a very, VERY long time (we're talking years) so I'm surprised at how I actually got into the groove of it so quickly. Please take note that I might still have to edit this chapter and the prologue. I just wanted to get this out there as soon as possible. Forgive me if my layout looks quite messy. I'm not used to writing on this site. I used to write on just the little notebooks I could get from my school stationery. You guys can teach me how to use this site. HAHA!

Please feel free to review. I want to know how I'm doing. I'd like to know how I can better myself as a writer. :D Your thoughts will be very much appreciated.

Regarding the prologue, (in case few of you noticed) I'd like to point out the eye colors in particular. They're kind-of-slightly symbolic sooo yeah. Great job if you picked up on that. And I actually unknowingly put a little tribute to the song Fast Car in there. I mean. I didn't even see it until after I reread it a couple dozen times.

Fast Car is a pretty catchy song though the melody is a bit repetitive. Tracy Chapman sings it wonderfully but if you could find good covers of this song (if Tracy's voice isn't your style), go for it. Boyce Avenue and Michael Collings did a pretty good job. Mutya Buena did pretty okay too. :D

**Disclaimer: ** The disclaimer in the prologue still applies. I would like this to be true for the rest of the chapters to be published at a later date. Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto. Fast Car sung by Tracy Chapman.

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**Chapter 1**

The slow setting of the summer sun casted an orange afterglow upon a semirural town found miles away from any radical urban environment. Despite being situated almost in the middle of nowhere, the town gave a quaint feel to its residences as well as its visitors. Citizens were generally, more or less, genial in nature. Children could stay playing outside even as the stars slowly appeared in the night sky. Schools and a few local colleges were available to provide education. Small businesses were put up to cater to the needs of the population with the town centre as its focal point of interest. Overall, the town was an ideal location to raise a family in. Unfortunately, no location will ever be safe from the clutches of poverty.

Towards the town outskirts, the site showed a clear line of division between its privileged and poverty-stricken residents .The richest of the town inhabitants preferred living close to, if not in, the town centre. These grand houses would taper down to modest sizes as the location moved further from the town's heart. It is evident that you've reached the poor side of town as the quality of housing drastically changes from humble proportions to worn-down and pitiful; from pleasant, spacious outdoor ambiances to sketchy, populous, and dangerous environments.

Moving out of the precarious setting was a speeding black luxury car obviously not wanting to stay any longer in its present surroundings. Inside was a young man at the ripe age of seventeen. Black eyes expressed clear desire to be nowhere else but in his fine abode. He was handsome, no doubt about that; with skin so pale and a body so well-sculpted that it would make the gods quake with want. His raven hair roughly spiking upwards at the back yet falling perfectly at the front; silky bangs framing his striking features.

He growled as his phone suddenly blared to life. Great. Now, he had to actually slow down. He was not one for driving while taking a call from his cell phone but he just so desperately wanted to be back in his house. On the other hand, should he not answer this call, he knew he would get it once he did reach said desired end destination; so he steadily gripped the steering wheel with his left hand as he examined the identity of the inconvenient caller. With an audible "tsk", he answered his incessantly ringing phone.

"Yes, Itachi?" he bit out with an unpleasant tone.

The phone emitted low buzzing sounds signalling that the caller had started to converse with the slowly-decreasing-in-speed driver.

"I know. I know. I'll be there soon. I'd probably get there much faster if your hadn't called." He said trying to end the call as soon as possible. It was annoying. His older brother was so annoying. The phones buzzing noises continued.

"Give me ten minutes." Not waiting for a reply, he shut his phone with an audible snap and stepped on the accelerator. The surroundings remained unnoticed to him as he zoomed past the beginnings of the business district. If one took a closer look, you would see how most of these little businesses had a mark of a red and white Uchiwa fan inconspicuously and tastefully put on the shop signs. This young man's father owned more than half of the enterprises in the charming town. His father made this town function properly, aside from the town's governing force, with the sheer amount and variety of the little businesses he owned.

In a little more than the quoted time, the seventeen-year-old arrived at the town centre's residential area. Turning on an affluent-looking driveway, he sighed in relief as he inwardly proclaimed his arrival. Exiting his car, he made sure to quicken his strides as he did not want to make the slightest bit of contact with his family.

Just get inside that damn house and make a break for my room,he chanted to himself. It was annoying. His family was so annoying. As he was about to close the front door, a velveteen voice made itself known.

"You said ten minutes. I was beginning to wonder whether you crashed and burned somewhere, my dear younger brother." Taunted what one could only assume as Itachi; his tall, lean form leaning against the wall adjacent to the household foyer. Evident amusement showed on his equally (if not more than) eye-catching features as he unwittingly played with the tip of his low ponytail.

"Oh, come on! So I arrived two minutes later? Seriously, Itachi. Two minutes. I doubt that's something to snivel about." The younger man said with exasperation as he slowly headed to the stairs that would lead to his haven called room.

"Sasuke. Father was looking for you." Sasuke stiffened as the taller form removed himself from the wall and made his way upstairs.

"Try not to exasperate him this time." Itachi added.

Just go back to the university and stay there, Sasuke mentally exclaimed. With a heavy sigh, Sasuke made his way into the study where he would most likely find his father. He walked across the ostentatiously classy receiving room and knocked onto the hardwood door of his father's study. He took a deep breath and quietly opened the door.

"You asked for me, father?" He meekly snuck his head in first and proceeded to enter the room as the demanding gaze of the family's head focused on him. The large and robust figure of Uchiha Fugaku was commanding . Even as the man slacked onto his cushion chair, he exuded the confidence and poise of a successful man. "You've been gone the entire day. Where have you been? Itachi has been here assisting me with my accounts..." The last statement was said without a hint of finality. Whereas he's been gallivanting aimlessly for the last nine and a half hours, Sasuke snidely remarked to himself. He saw his father's desire to express that exact sentiment.

"I apologize. I was out running a few errands with an acquaintance. I promise to allot more time with you in regards with the family businesses." Sasuke stated perfectly.

"You should." Fugaku immediately retorted. "You are excused. I have much work to do and your presence is distracting. You're no longer needed here." The father figure turned his attention to the reports on his table.

"Yes, father." And just like that, the perfection he desperately tried to portray was taken no heed.

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The maids quickly and silently put away the table set-up after the family ate their fill. Dinner ended without a hitch in the Uchiha residence. Silent and awkward as always with occasional quips from the only female in the family. Uchiha Mikoto was the only person Sasuke tolerated. She cared far more for him than anyone else in his own family combined. Her only downside was that she tended to suppress herself in favor of her husband. A sudden pinch surprised Sasuke as he felt the abuse on his cheek; his mother cooed at the few remaining hints of baby fat on her son's pristine face. "Honey, I bought new pairs of jeans! I put them on your dresser." She smiled and kissed her youngest on his forehead earning herself a small smirk. "Thanks, mom" he replied, returning his mother's affection.

"You baby him too much, Mikoto. That's why he stays immature and unreliable."Fugaku stood from his place, wiping his gruff mouth with a table napkin in the process. "This boy lacks initiative; so unlike his brother." He continued while leaving the used napkin on the table and made the walk to exit the dining area.

"Of course, dear". Mikoto sombrely looked towards her son and petted the top of his soft hair. "Sasuke, it's Thursday today. The maids put the garbage bags near the backdoor." She then followed the path her husband had departed to. Hearing the screech of a chair drift a few inches across the floor, Sasuke directed his attention to his older brother who also looked to be leaving the area. "Hn. Have fun, Sasuke." He states with a slight smirk. Sasuke rolled his eyes; he hated how his brother said that same line once a week.

It was a fact, despite their non-lack of help, that Sasuke was tasked to throw the household garbage every week. He had been doing this for the past couple of months when Fugaku had decided that he "lacks initiative" as his father oh-so bluntly put it. It was to place responsibility upon their youngest and, although not said, it was to clearly let him know his place in their family. He wasn't as important as Itachi was in his father's eyes. His mother was generally ambiguous. Mostly, she was loving but would often shift to a colder demeanour when in front of her husband. Itachi was, well, his name spoke for itself. Sasuke massaged the bridge of his nose as he exhaled. Maybe. Just maybe, he could escape from the pressure with that one release of breath. The young man then took the keys to his car from his pocket and proceeded to the back door with a heavy heart.

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The drive to the alley where Sasuke usually threw their wastes was a fifteen minute leisurely drive from their residential area; almost near the clear division in their small town. It was risky, he knew, but he immediately ignored any notion of throwing their trash anywhere near their neighbourhood . He liked to portray perfection and this chore was anything but perfection. God forbid any of their high society neighbours see him doing such an unflattering errand. Oh, the shame it would bring to his person.

As he slowed towards the nearing alley, he noticed tiny wisps of smoke coming from the alley's maw. He parked a few metres away and noiselessly shut off his engine. He took his army knife, exited his car, shut the door with noise barely considered a whisper . He edged towards the alley and abruptly rounded the corner with army knife at hand.

There, for the very first time, black eyes met dull blue in the dead of night.


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: **YAY for chapter 2! **Drug-use is mentioned in this chapter**. This was the reason why I decided on an M-rating for the story. I actually don't know if I should downgrade to a T-rating. I really don't know the difference. 0_0 I just thought it would be better to overestimate a rating rather than underestimate, y'know? Chapter 2 is not beta-read. :)

***DISCLAIMER APPLIES***

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**Chapter 2**

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Cool it, ducky! I ain't got money so forget about it!" The boy raised both hands above his set of blond hair in surrender. This stranger was shorter than Sasuke by an inch or two; slightly on the skinny side but still considerably lean. He sported regular black sneakers, blue jeans, and a black shirt underneath an orange jacket with the sleeves rolled up. Sasuke raised an elegant brow as he examined the boy's face. Wide fearful blue eyes were staring back at him. Whisker-like lines marked his bronze cheek. Droplets of sweat slid down the other teenager's temple. He followed the path one particular sweat drop took which made him notice the cigarette hanging limply from the blonds' mouth.

"Look. You came to the wrong place to rob someone, ducky. As you can see, this area isn't really particularly rolling in dough, y'know. So why don't we just chill out and you can drop that fancy-looking knife of yours. Honestly, with that kind of knife, why even try thieving?" The blue-eyed teenager slowly put his hands in front of himself and tried to gesture for Sasuke to calm down. "I mean it's not like..." the boy continued to run his mouth

"Shut up, dumbass." Sasuke interrupted and at the same time dropped his army knife into his right pocket. This barbarian posed no threat to him. Boy. For someone who thought they were being robbed, he talked unnecessary crap a lot. One would think he wasn't even being threatened. A small smirk formed on Sasuke's handsome face. Idiot.

"Excuse me! What did you just call me, you asshole?!" The form of the 'idiot' stiffened as he looked daggers at his offender.

"I called you dumbass, dumbass. Stop being so loud. You're giving me a migraine." Black eyes closed as the exasperation from the entire situation was taking its toll.

"Oh yeah? Well good! Hopefully the migraine I give kills you! Then I wouldn't have such a bastard robbing me of my hard-earned cash!" The burning end of the cigarette suddenly appeared just in front of charcoal eyes as the blond points the offending object accusingly. "And for the record, my name is not dumbass! It's Naruto, you jerk!" The boy - Naruto was it? - finished with a triumphant look on his tan cherub face.

"Will you keep that foul-smelling thing away from me?" Sasuke pushed the smoking boy's cigarette-donned hand away from his person. "Hn. Do you usually give out your name to random people? Especially since just a few seconds ago, you thought I was going to steal from you." The raven-haired teenager bit out. This Naruto was certainly living up to the 'dumbass' jibes.

Whiskered-cheeks immediately reddened in embarrassment. "Well, I don't particularly like being called dumbass, ducky! What was I supposed to do?" Naruto, trying to hide his humiliation, glowered back.

"If you don't want to be called dumbass then don't act like one. Oh, and 'for the record', please. Like I, or any self-respecting thief for that matter, would steal from you." The paler of the two snorted and proceeded to turn his back to the blond stranger. He should be heading back by now but no. This idiot had to be here to prolong the hassling weekly routine. Silence greeted Sasuke as he made his way back to his car. To his amazement, he was actually able to shut the annoying one up. He expected a few more rounds of grumblings from the blond but who was he to complain. He popped the car's trunk and, with an audible grunt, grabbed the two large garbage bags. As he gripped the bags, one on each hand, he failed to notice the slight melancholy in Naruto's eyes. He tossed the bags in to the large bin found a few metres away when suddenly Naruto found his voice once more.

"What do you mean no self-respecting thief would steal from me?" Dismal eyes locked onto surprised ones. "Why? Do I look worthless to you?"Said dismal eyes closed slightly as if showing hurt. Sasuke gazed back questioningly. Did the youngest Uchiha just hurt the blond idiot's feelings? With a great sigh, Sasuke explained. "I didn't say that, you idiot, nor did I imply it. What I meant was who would ever want to rob a clueless brat like you. That would just be so pathetic. A disgrace, really."

Previously sad eyes widened in shock. The unexpected sound of what seemed like pealing bells met Sasuke's ears; Naruto was laughing. Hands on stomach, cigarette forgotten on the ground, eyes closed laughing. This boy was crazy. Sasuke was sure of it. The tremors from Naruto's giggling stopped and, once again, blue eyes met black. "You really are an asshole, huh?" a small smile appeared on the Naruto's youthful face; yet as Sasuke refocused his gaze on the blonds' eyes, he noticed a slight hint of deadness within the dull blue depths. Sasuke stomped on the lit cigarette on the ground, decided to simply ignore what he thought he saw and chalked it up to being just his imagination. "And you're irritating. Can't you even kill a cigarette properly? Maybe you really are a dumba-" Before Sasuke could even end his statement, Naruto interrupted. "Don't even say it, ducky. I swear I'll hurt you if you finish that sentence." jabbed the seemingly recovered blond.

"Hn. Whatever. Don't call me ducky. It sounds ridiculous." Sasuke headed for the alley's entrance. It was high time he went back to his family.

"Really now? Because I believe it suits you perfectly, ducky." Naruto giggled as he trailed after Sasuke. Once Naruto had caught up to his touchy companion, he proceeded to lightly move his hand over the back of Sasuke's head. "You know, since you have this weird duck-slash-chicken ass hairstyle going on. But ducky seemed more appealing to me rather than, oh I don't know, chicky? Just saying, dude." Well, that was messed up, Sasuke thought.

"If you don't want me to call you ducky then tell me your name." The blond inquired with an ear-splitting grin.

"As if I'd tell you." Opening his car door, Sasuke made motions of entering the safety of his vehicle.

Naruto gazed admiringly at the sleek black car and whistled. "No wonder. Dude, you're loaded." The shorter form of Naruto suddenly leaned on the car and prevented Sasuke from driving away. "Wouldn't want my poor ass to come looking for you and take you for ransom." The blue-eyed annoyance mocked as he slowly made himself comfortable against Sasuke's 'baby'.

"Get off the car, moron, before I run you over." Yup. Sasuke really was starting to have a migraine.

Naruto removed himself from the vehicle and chuckled. "Fine, ducky. It's not as if I'll be seeing you again anyway. Though I do wonder what in God's name were you doing here throwing garbage when you have this fine piece of metal with you; but I digress. I'll let you leave." And like Naruto hadn't nearly forced him to tell his name, the tan boy just simply left. "Bye, ducky!" Naruto shouted as he gave Sasuke a friendly wave of goodbye.

"Hn." Well. At least he acknowledged Naruto's goodbye. That was actually a big deal. On another note, what was up with him? It was like he wasn't acting like himself back there. He actually felt, dare he say, relaxed while talking with Naruto. And their whole exchange just felt effortless.

The seventeen-year old shook his head. He was imagining things; probably just really tired from the day's activities. With swift movements, he turned on his engine, manoeuvred his way back to the main road, and sped away.

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The following morning, Sasuke made himself appear presentable for an early engagement. Hozuki Suigetsu, an acquaintance from school, had arranged for a secluded restaurant at the edge of the town centre to discuss 'business' so to speak. Sasuke opened the car trunk to make sure the necessities were still there. Double-checking that everything was in order, he left the Uchiha property.

As he drove on their street, a few early-rising neighbours waved to the youngest Uchiha. To keep up appearances, he forced a somewhat presentable friendly smile towards their way. It was exasperating how he needed to smile for these people when he barely even knew them yet had to because he was an Uchiha. He was supposed to be a perfect son. The ordeal of it all was exhausting but he had acted the same way for years. The idea of acting any differently was completely absurd to him; and truthfully, it wasn't as if he could act differently but rather he didn't know how. For this exact reason, his brief run-in with Naruto astounded him. What had gotten in to him last night?

The drive to the restaurant was all a blur as he recalled the event's that had transpired yesterevening. It was simply mind-boggling how he had slipped in to such a manner. In a matter of minutes, Sasuke found the restaurant Suigetsu was supposed to meet him in. He parked his car in the empty lot reserved for the restaurant's patrons, took a moment to hide the items in his trunk in a large paper bag, and made sure to lock his car. "Here goes nothing." He whispered to no one in particular.

It was a family restaurant. A goddamn family restaurant. The place wasn't really that busy but it was packed enough to make Sasuke feel awkward with the affairs he had to take care of in a matter of seconds. Sasuke mentally winced at the fact that there were children here not two metres away. "Hello, sir. Welcome to Ayame's. Table for one?" His gaze snapped to the direction he had heard the greeting from and met the short stature of a brunette waitress. The waitress was staring adoringly at his face. She was clearly smitten. Hn. No surprise there. "No. I'm actually here to meet someone" Sasuke stated matter-of-factly. At his response, the brown eyes of the girl immediately looked downtrodden. "Oh. Your girlfriend?" She inappropriately inquired. Really. Did people have to pry all the time? "It's really none of your business" He harshly replied. The waitress flinched in surprise. Before she could apologize, a low chuckle resounded in the restaurant's foyer.

"I knew it. Only you could be so mean and the girls would still be all over you, Sasuke." The intruder smirked and approached the mortified waitress. "Please forgive my friend here, miss. He's just naturally crabby. Here's five bucks just because this guy's an asshole, okay?" With a grateful nod, the waitress left but not before eyeing the Uchiha one last time.

"See. What did I tell you?" Sasuke's newest nuisance sniggered.

"Be quiet, Suigetsu. Let's just get this over and done with", sighed the youngest Uchiha.

Suigetsu winked. "Sure thing, buddy." As Sasuke followed Suigetsu to their seat, the raven-haired teenager took a moment to scrutinize his companion's attire. Flip-flops, worn-out jeans and a loose violet camiseta adorned Suigetsu's lanky figure. Tch. To think Sasuke had taken his time to actually make himself look respectable. Sasuke twitched his mouth, clearly displeased with Suigetsu's lack of self-consciousness. If he knew he was meeting with an Uchiha he should have at least made himself decent to go out in public. The damn slob's sharp teeth didn't do any good either. At least he combed his unusual white hair. The dark-haired teenager gave him that much.

The two sat at the most secluded corner of the restaurant and tried to make themselves comfortable. "So how've you been, Sasuke?" Dark eyes couldn't help but glare at the awful attempt at small talk.

"Cut the crap, Suigetsu. When I said let's get this over and done with, I meant it. I didn't say it just to sound cool." The Uchiha heir obviously meant business.

"Aw come on, Sasuke! What's the rush? My food isn't even here yet. Oh yeah. I got hungry and ordered for myself. I didn't bother waiting up for you." The lanky form proceeded to relax on to his chair, arms folded across his chest.

"Honestly, why do I even bother with you?" Sasuke was now massaging the bridge of his noise. He wondered why he had been dealing with a lot of idiots lately. First, Naruto; then the waitress; and now, Suigetsu. Surely, this wasn't some sort of punishment?

"Easy. That's because I'm your friend. I'm slightly exaggerating when I say friend but you get the idea. And also..." Suigetsu paused and fished for something in his pocket. "Need I remind you that I have this, Uchiha." Now, Sasuke looked like he was about to commit murder. It was a picture of him at a recent party hosted by one of the girls in his school. If he remembered correctly, Haruno was her last name. The picture showed him smoking crack cocaine. He heard rumors of its euphoric effects and wanted to have a go at it. He specifically recalled being scolded at by his father before leaving for the get-together thus would explain the drug use. When Sasuke tried the drug, he made sure that all the party-goers were either too drunk or too high to remember that he had tried crack in the first place. He was thoroughly proven mistaken once Suigetsu had shown him the disgraceful photo.

"If you don't keep that where people don't see it, I swear to God, I will cut off your hand and keep it for you" Barely restrained anger was audible in Sasuke's voice.

"Chill out, Uchiha! It's not like you're in the position to be threatening me anyway; what with me having this picture and all." At this exact moment, a waiter arrived and gave Suigetsu his food and beverage just as the white-haired teenager kept the photo. The abrupt silence was deafening. Sensing the tension, the waiter hurriedly left, not even asking if the two gentlemen needed anything else.

"I beg to differ, Hozuki. I know you actually take this crap regularly whereas I just tried it that single time. All it takes is a few phone calls and I can have evidences against you in a snap of a finger." Sasuke clenched his fist wishing that the photograph was in his possession instead.

Suigetsu darkly chuckled at the frigid response. "And that single time was all I needed, Sasuke. That one moment when perfect little Sasuke isn't so perfect." With a smug smirk, Suigetsu knew that he had Sasuke at the palm of his hand. "I guess we're just gonna have to 'trust' each other not to go on blabbing the other's dirt, huh?" And with that statement, they both had come to terms with the fact that whatever silent agreement they had going on was never going to change.

Resigning to his fate, Sasuke handed the paper bag to Suigetsu. "Thanks, buddy! Appreciate it!", exclaimed Suigetsu who was obviously thrilled. Suigetsu's attempt at pleasantries was a mockery of friendship and it sickened Sasuke. It was all so fake. All these people were fake; the waitress, Suigetsu, his father, his mother, his brother- everyone.

"You'd better appreciate it, 'buddy'. I had my father at my throat once I got home, no thanks to you. It took me all day just to get that shit for you." Sasuke decided to play along. After all, the youngest Uchiha liked to play pretend as well.

"Seriously? Actually, I'm not that surprised. You were a new customer. They always do that with the new ones. It's to see if you're not with the cops or anything. So what'd you tell your dad?" The sharp-toothed boy feigned interest. The food on the table was totally forgotten as Suigetsu's concentration was directed at the paper bag he was cradling like a newborn child.

"Hn. I told him I was running errands with an acquaintance." It was more or less true, Sasuke thought.

"That's all you got, Uchiha? Man, I could have shit a better excuse than that!" A white-eyebrow raised in ridicule. An Uchiha didn't need to explain himself to this kind of person. Besides, he didn't lie to his father that often when he so desperately wanted to please the man.

"Not gonna talk, huh? Whatever. Here. This is a little 'thank you'. Think of it as a tip." Reaching in to the paper bag, Suigetsu brought out a resealable plastic bag the size of a palm. It was filled with what seemed to be lumps of dried dirt. Sasuke widended his eyes immediately hid the plastic bag with his unoccupied place mat.

"Are you fucking crazy?! Don't just put that thing on the table for everyone to see!" The Uchiha whispered harshly. Trying to calm his rapidly beating heart, Sasuke buried his face in between the palms of his hands. "Besides, I don't do Marijuana or any kind of drugs for that matter. As I've said, I only tried it that one time. Keep it. I don't need nor want it." He was lying. All he needed was that one time to know he liked the stuff. It made him forget; but Suigetsu didn't need to know that.

"Psh. Don't be such a prude. But I know how stubborn you are. I'll still give this to you anyway. It's no big deal. You did go through all the trouble to get the goods for me; and it's so hard to find people to do this kind of shit for you. A lot of unreliable hicks, these days." Suigetsu reached for something in the paper bag once more and brought out another resealable plastic bag of the same size as the first one. This time, the bag contained off-white, rock-like substances. Sasuke mouth nearly watered at the sight. "Here's another extra to your extra, Sasuke.", smirked the white-haired teen. Sasuke needed to remind himself that he had told Suigetsu that he was uninterested. And he was! Wasn't he?

"I told you. I don't want it. Take it and just go, Suigetsu." Black eyes almost pleading to take the stuff away. No more. He didn't want to mar the perfection he built for years.

"Nope. I'm going to leave that here, Sasuke, because I have a feeling you'll take it, and you'll thank me for it. So I'm going to go and pretend like we just had a fairly pleasant meeting and I'd simply left you a little gift; considering how we're such good friends, Uchiha." The sarcasm was laced in Suigetsu's voice as he abruptly stoop up, left a wad of cash to pay for his meal, and took the large paper bag. "I'll call you if I need a new supply, Uchiha. You can just drop by my place so I can give you the money." And with that, Sasuke met the departing form of Hozuki Suigetsu. Hn. What a waste of food that boy was.

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After his meeting with Suigetsu, Sasuke decided that he ought to head back to Uchiha grounds; but not before circling the town a couple of times. Much to his great shame, Sasuke had given in and smoked marijuana. He parked his car near his alley because it was almost always deserted. It was for that exact reason he chose that alley to throw his family's garbage in. There, in the confines of his car, he smoked a gram and a half of weed and it was enough to get him fairly high. He knew it would be incredibly stupid to go back to his place in his previous state, also his smoking had stunk up the car; therefore, he decided to drive around town a couple of times with the windows opened to get rid of the stench that his joint had caused. It also helped him sober up a little, so drive around he did.

When he deemed himself stink-free and somewhat Fugaku-presentable, he took the long way back and drove to the Uchiha residence. The boy had smoked and driven around town for an hour and a half after his dealings with Suigetsu. Despite being Fugaku-presentable, he hoped his father wasn't home or hadn't noticed he was gone all morning.

As Sasuke entered one of the smaller streets in the town centre, he noticed a familiar set of blond hair. The person was walking with purpose as he held a brown package to his right-side waist. From behind, Sasuke saw black footwear, blue jeans, and the orange jacket. The young Uchiha would bet a large sum of money that the walking boy had a black shirt underneath the jacket.

Before Sasuke was even aware of what he was doing, his car was slowing down, matching Naruto's strides and the car's passenger side window was swiftly rolling down. What had he just done?

"So after you left that alley last night, did you suddenly decide to go back and sleep there or is that really the only set of clothing you wear?" Sasuke was talking to Naruto. He actually initiated the conversation with the dumb blond. He considered going around town a few more times. He was still clearly high.

Naruto snapped his head to Sasuke's direction. Raven eyes crinkled in amusement at the deer-in-headlights look Naruto sported. "Ducky? Oh my God! I actually did get to see you again!" Naruto stopped his pace and stood casually near Sasuke's passenger side door. Realizing what the car's owner had said, Naruto tensed his shoulders and sneered. "You asshole! My clothes are still clean from last night. They don't even stink or anything! And for your information, I actually just came from that alley. So there!" Naruto stuck out his tongue childishly at Sasuke's relaxed face.

"I can't believe it actually took you a couple of seconds to process what I said, dumbass." Sasuke chortled. "Wait, you just came from the alley? I was just there more than hour ago. I guess you frequent there a lot, huh? Great. Now I have to look for a new spot." The young driver continued to tease with evident enjoyment.

"Will you stop calling me dumbass, ducky?" With an audible groan, Naruto proceeded to answer Sasuke's question. "Yeah. I was just there. Huh. I probably missed you by like a minute or something. I just walked all the way here. Actually, I've been going there a lot recently; and I live about twenty to thirty minutes away from there. What were you doing at the alley, ducky?"

Sasuke snorted at the nickname the blond had given him. "None of your business, blockhead. And I thought I told you to stop with the ducky nonsense?" With a slight purse of his lips, Sasuke looked challengingly at the person standing near his car.

"Aww! Ducky is such a bastard!" And just like last night, Sasuke looked upon the blond idiot's smiling face. "Hn." The young Uchiha grunted simultaneously fixing his gaze at the driver side window, and glared at the air.

"Are you pouting, ducky?" Absolute mirth was visible in Naruto's blue eyes. "You should just tell me your name then! At least, now you know how it feels when you call me dumbass, ducky. Truthfully speaking though, if you want to insult me, I actually kind of liked blockhead." Naruto shyly admitted as he scratched his whiskered-cheek. "Not that you shouldn't call me Naruto! I was just saying that if you wanted to insult me, I guess blockhead seemed like the better option."

"Yeah. Whatever, dumba- blockhead."At the mention of the nickname, both teenagers couldn't help but smile at each other. "So what are you doing here, blockhead? This place is a long way from the alley if you go on foot." Sasuke couldn't help but inquire. He didn't bother saying how this neighborhood was out of Naruto's boundaries, literally and figuratively.

With a casual look at his cheap-looking watch, Naruto's eyes widened to great proportion. "Shit, I gotta go or I'll be late! I was paid to deliver this to some rich asshole. Told me to go alone and not ask questions. So see you around, ducky!" Just before Naruto made a wild dash to jump over a fence to God knows where, Sasuke instantly corrected, "It's Sasuke." Turning ever so slowly, Naruto looked towards the car in confusion.

"What?" Naruto enunciated with furrowed brows.

"You blockhead." Sasuke facepalmed and continued with his statement. "It's Sasuke. That's my name."

The puzzlement on Naruto's face gradually dissipated as the newly acquired information dawned on him. With the most honest smile Sasuke had ever seen, Naruto raised his right forearm and gave a two-fingered salute.

"See you around, Sasuke" and with that, the blond jumped over the fence and disappeared.

Sasuke remained slack-jawed and motionless on his seat. That smile was something else. It was a real honest to goodness smile and it was entrancing. He hadn't seen one of those in a very, very long time. Finally coming to his senses, the seventeen-year-old Uchiha gripped his steering wheel and sped off.

In his eyes, everyone was fake. All except ...


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N:** So I think writing the last part of this chapter slightly drunk was a bad idea. I came home from a Christmas party and then went straight to working on this one. I recall making a lot of typos. I checked the chapter a couple of times and it seemed okay. If you guys see any mistakes, I apologize in advance. Blame it on the vices of youth. :S This chapter is not beta-read. :( Expect edits in the future.

***DISCLAIMER APPLIES***

* * *

**Chapter 3**

The days after Sasuke's last Naruto run-in were rather uneventful. By normal standards, given that one didn't have a summer job, teenagers usually did worthwhile activities with their peers during summer. A trip to the beach, barbecues, a visit to the local pool, y'know? Kids' stuff. But this wasn't so in the Uchiha household. The Uchihas would never associate themselves with the town's commoners, nor would they let any of the townspeople see their family in such a - for lack of a better term - average state. This was exactly why we find the young Uchiha in his room, occupying his bed and staring at his cream-colored ceiling while all the other teenagers had fun.

For the past few days, Sasuke's daily activities would include him being in his room doing random things to pass the time; if his father was present, he would offer to help out with the business (alongside Itachi, much to his great dismay); and if wanted some time away from his dear family, he would get on his car and drive around aimlessly for a couple of hours. And for the past few days, it was during his drives around town or when he was doing absolutely nothing in his room did he find himself thinking about one thing.

Naruto.

The blond boy was so very intriguing. He was everything Sasuke wasn't, in more ways than one. Aside from the obvious difference in social class, Naruto was vulgar, brash and short-tempered. He wasn't afraid to let loose and was absolutely care-free. Naruto didn't flatter or expect anything from the young Uchiha in any way; entirely different from the people the Uchiha associated with. The orange jacket clad boy was completely without pretenses; and he managed to bring down a little of Sasuke's defenses. Naruto was interesting, simply put.

"Aren't you the productive one, little brother?" There, standing at his front door, was Itachi. Weird. Sasuke distinctly remembered locking his door.

"Ever heard of knocking?" The littlest Uchiha raised his torso using his forearms so he could look distastefully at his older brother.

"Didn't have to, Sasuke." Itachi waved what looked to be a restaurant gift card in the air. Sasuke wasn't imagining things and actually did lock his door; his brother was just being nosy. Their father should really reconsider calling Sasuke the immature one when Itachi, a full grown man of twenty-two, was here playing with cards and locked doors. Was there no privacy in this household? With that thought, Sasuke decided to get a better lock for his room. What had the younger man worried was how he hadn't heard his older brother trying to open said door; or hear it open for that matter. Huh. He was more spaced out than he had thought.

Moving so he could sit cross-legged on his bed, Sasuke looked at the man in front of his door questioningly. "Did you need anything in particular or are you just here to bother me?"

"Bothering you would imply that you were actually engaging in something fruitful." That answer did not please Sasuke in the slightest. "Stop sneering, Sasuke. It's very unattractive." Itachi was a bastard.

"Itachi! State your business or leave! I'm not in the mood to banter with you!" Sasuke made to grab for the nearest pillow. Hopefully, it was enough to threaten his brother. Death by pillow hurl. Yeah. Sasuke seriously doubted his brother would leave; but you can't blame the guy for trying.

"Careful, little brother. Your Uchiha is slipping." The room's owner's eyes widened and the hand reaching for the weapon of choice went slack. Immediately after the shock, Sasuke reverted in to the perfect Uchiha. Itachi was now casually leaning on the doorframe, scrutinizing his own polished nails. The older male clearly knew how to toy with his younger sibling. "I just wanted to inform you that father is back from his shop rounds. And, I'd like to add that he is carrying a lot of paperwork with him. I suggest you get down there soon before he bites off your head. Again." The room's door closed with a loud click signalling Itachi's departure.

The room's occupant stood up rigidly from his bed and made sure no one, not even his meddlesome brother, could come in his room any time soon. Itachi was right; the younger male had slipped. Sasuke's disturbed form then locked and barricaded his door.

A pale arm reached in between the mattress and the bed frame in search of what he thought he needed. Unfortunately, the youngest Uchiha wasn't just innocently staying in his room, wasn't just assisting his father with paperwork, wasn't just driving around town to pass the time. He did something else; and for the past few days, a habit was developing slowly but definitely surely.

Finally feeling the things he was looking for at the palm of his hands, Sasuke pulled all the necessities out of their hiding place and neatly placed them on the floor. Now that he had everything in place, there were only a few things left to do. He entered his en-suite bathroom and took a wet towel. As he was about to exit the bathroom, with a flick of his wrists, he turned on the switch to the air vents. After placing the wet towel at his door's crevice, he returned to his spot on the floor where he opened a familiar resealable plastic bag containing chunks of off-white nuggets. With a final look at his wall clock, the young Uchiha knew he had to make the whole affair quick lest his father really did bite his head off.

Like in the past few days, in the privacy of his room, Sasuke took out a pipe and smoked crack cocaine.

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An hour later, Sasuke made his way downstairs. He spent more time than he should have with his vices so he took a shower just so he had a somewhat plausible excuse for why he took so long in his room. The youngest son of Uchiha Fugaku proceeded to the house's study. To his surprise, the room was open; and, inside, there stood the taller form of his older brother and the large figure of his father. Both seemed to be conversing in hushed tones yet Sasuke decided to interrupt. "Forgive me for taking a considerable amount of time in my room, father. I decided to get myself cleaned before coming to meet you."

Both the Uchiha men fixed their gazes on the recent addition to the study. Older, more worn-out eyes raked over the youngest from head to toe as if judging Sasuke's appearances. Thankfully, Sasuke managed to look presentable despite being in his current state. The dark eyes of Itachi were both focused on his younger brother's equally dark eyes. Now, Sasuke could just be imagining things (chalking it up once more to his slightly disoriented mind), but he couldn't help but notice how Itachi had just given him a very heated glare. Yet as the youngest Uchiha was about to confirm his suspicions, Itachi had already gazed back to the demanding figure of their father.

"Now that Sasuke is here, father, I suggest we get started on those reports." In Itachi's possession was a large stack of papers separated into three filing folders. With a nod of Fugaku's head, Itachi continued. "Sasuke, these are marketing, financial, and inventory reports from all the family businesses situated in this town. You know what to do, don't you little brother?" Sasuke took the folders labeled 'Inventory' and 'Financial'. It was his job to balance out the inventory and fees handled in their businesses. Basically, he had to make sure if the money they spent and earned made any sense. Leaving the rest up to his older brother and his father, Sasuke carried out his task.

The study was fairly silent for the next couple of hours. The only noise emitted in the room came from the two older men in the study. They were talking about the marketing reports, Sasuke figured. The youngest of the three men kept mostly to himself. One didn't need to talk when dealing with numbers and figures. As more time elapsed, Sasuke was still handling his workload. Fugaku had left ten minutes ago after wrapping up his discussion with his oldest son; however, Itachi had remained in the room. The first-born son was sitting quietly on Fugaku's armchair as he watched his youngest sibling work.

In what seemed like forever and a half, Sasuke finally finished the reports. He was actually pretty damn proud of himself right now. He managed to actually balance everything out even though he was relatively high. That, in itself, was a grand feat, if he did say so himself.

"It took you longer than usual." Oh yes. Sasuke forgot. Itachi was in the room.

"Can't we all just be glad that I finished the job, Itachi?" As the seventeen-year-old was about to leave the room, Itachi had suddenly gripped the younger siblings shoulder. Sasuke wondered at how his older brother had moved so quickly.

"Sasuke." The tone was authoritative and Sasuke found himself tensing his shoulders. "If you're sharp enough, you would notice that Daddy Dearest isn't all he seems. Whatever it is you are doing, it had better stop because once father finds out - and he will find out - there will be dire consequences." The hand on Sasuke's shoulder disappeared, and Itachi went on ahead and left Sasuke's perplexed form.

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It was now currently Thursday night and the youngest Uchiha was itching to get out of his seat at the dining table. Itachi announced that the family could expect his university grades to be posted online within the next few hours. Truth be told, Sasuke didn't want to be around when that happened. It would just make him feel inadequate.

"I think I'll be taking my leave now. I still have to take care of the garbage." Sasuke reminded his folks. Knowing what was to come, Sasuke shot a sour look to his older brother. Here we go.

"Have fun, Sasuke." And there it was.

Sasuke replied with a grunt and swiftly left the dining area. As he had done in the previous weeks, the Uchiha family's youngest member grabbed the two large black plastic bags near their backdoor and loaded the garbage in his trunk. Getting on the driver's seat, he decided to pass by the gas station first to top up on gas before heading to his alley. Just as he turned on the engine, he briefly wondered if he would get to see the familiar face of his blond-haired friend.

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The drive to the alley was, overall, very relaxing to the young Uchiha. With his car windows open, he had let the cold night air flow in his car and caress his face. When he had reached his destination, he couldn't help but overhear soft singing accompanied by the gentle plucking of a guitar. The song had a sombre melody yet contained unrestrained hope. Sasuke, once again, saw tiny wisps of smoke floating in the air. If he wasn't sure before, he was sure now. Naruto was in that alley.

The dark-haired teenager moved silently towards the alley's other occupant, being careful not to disturb the blonds' current trance. The boy was sitting on top of the closed-garbage bin while singing with his eyes closed. He cradled the guitar with great care; his cigarette was placed, surprisingly, on top of a beer bottle which placed carefully at his side. Thankfully, Naruto was wearing something different this time around. A plain orange shirt and dark jeans; didn't really deviate that much from his first attire but different nonetheless. The young Uchiha said nothing and simply listened to Naruto sing. Unknowingly, a small smile crept on to the paler boy's visage.

Naruto's eyes fluttered open as the song came to a finish. The moon's light made the blonds' blue eyes seem glassy. It was unmistakable that the orange-clad boy was still in his own world. Realizing that Naruto wouldn't notice Sasuke's presence any time soon, the Uchiha decided to take matters in to his own hands.

"I didn't know you could play the guitar, blockhead." And with a loud yelp, Naruto found out that he was no longer alone.

"Christ! You scared me!" The whiskered-face looked panicked in the same way he had just last week; only this time, he held his guitar in such a way that he looked as if he was ready to smack anything with it.

"I don't recall ever telling you my name was Christ, blockhead." This earned a quiet chuckle from the blond. He was smiling that smile again.

"Did you just try to make a joke, ducky?", yet those blue eyes were still quite dull for Sasuke's taste.

"Nor do I recall saying it was ducky." Sasuke tried for another joke. Maybe he could make the dimness in Naruto's eyes go away, even for a moment. Another soft laugh met the ears of the young Uchiha.

"Hi Sasuke." Naruto wore on a real smile, just like the one Sasuke had seen a few days ago; and just like a few days ago, black eyes were engrossed in that smile. But Sasuke mulled over why Naruto's eyes were still as dull as the night they had met. Sasuke hated to admit to himself that maybe those eyes were naturally that way. Impossible, he thought. With the way Naruto was, he would at least expect those eyes to be the same deep blue as the sky or the ocean; not a disgusting imitation of the shade.

"You know, every time we meet, it seems like I always get some type of a mini heart attack." The shorter boy had leaped from the top of the bin. The cigarette was placed precariously on the blonds' pink lips; and on his right hand was the half-empty beer bottle.

The corner of Sasuke's lip twitched upwards as he folded his arms across his chest. "Maybe you're too much of an airhead and you don't have the capacity to notice when people are close by."

Naruto inhaled his cigarette deeply and released a huge puff of smoke. Sasuke frowned, "Do you always smoke? Out of the three times we've seen each other, I've seen you smoking twice. I hope you're not a chain smoker because that's unappealing to me." Oh the hypocrisy in that statement alone was enough to make anyone's skin cringe. "Not to mention you're drinking alcohol. Aren't you a little young to be having that stuff?" Sasuke couldn't help but point out. He was making excuses to find out a little bit more about his blond-haired companion without actually asking outright.

With a lopsided grin and a wink, Naruto decided to tease Sasuke a little and took a swig of the beer he held in his tan hand. "Please. You don't look that much older than I am, Sasuke. I bet we even have the same age. Shoot. I'm seventeen. How 'bout you?"

"Hn. Same; but I'm turning eighteen in two weeks." Actually, a week and a half; really just minor details, Sasuke mentally nodded.

"So you are older, technically." With another inhale of his cigarette, the blond continued to reveal more about himself. "I turn eighteen in October; still a little ways away, but not by much."

Silence suddenly met the two sets of ears. The quiet wasn't awkward and was completely welcomed by the two teenagers in the alley. Naruto then looked at the little cancer stick in between his thumb and forefinger, and snorted. "To answer your question before we got completely sidetracked, I only smoke when I'm troubled. I try not to do it a lot, but it helps me relax sometimes." Sasuke then heard the squishing sound of the contents inside the beer bottle. "Alcohol, on the other hand, I am definitely not fond of. The stuff is good, no doubt, but the idea of alcohol and getting wasted are both loathsome to me." Naruto glared hatefully at the bottle in his hand. "I just happened to find it lying around in my house and decided to take it. I rarely drink any alcohol but tonight just seemed like a good night to have some, y'know?"

Both teenagers were now leaning against the tall wooden fence that made up the alley. Sasuke found himself musing about the boy not a metre away. This boy didn't bother hiding anything. What was more astounding was the fact that Naruto didn't even know Sasuke. Naruto was just being himself.

"So you're turning eighteen soon, right?", and Naruto voice broke the Uchiha's silent ponderings. "So that would mean you're in your senior year at high school, yeah?"

"Yup. Next school year will be my last year in high school; then my parent will probably ship me off to some university. I'm actually looking forward to that. What I'd give to get out of this place; away from my place in particular." Then Sasuke flinched. Had he said too much? Did what he just say make Naruto piece together the idea that his life wasn't perfect after all?

"I hear you. I feel the exact same way." Without even prying any further, Naruto agreed with him. It was as if the shorter boy simply accepted the information Sasuke had accidentally given him and thought nothing of it. As Sasuke directed his startled expression, he noticed that Naruto again wore a wistful look on his whiskered face. Now, the older of two teenagers was very much determined to change the subject.

"What about you? You should be in the same boat, right? Senior in high school and off to a university next year and what not." but because of his desperation for a subject change, Sasuke forgot to put a little common sense in his inquiry.

An amused blond brow raised simultaneously with an equally amused half-smile on Naruto's charming looks. "University. Riiiight." An audible giggle left the boy's pink lips. "I quit school a couple of years ago, ducky, so no senior year for me as well.", and now a smile adorned Naruto's endearing face as Sasuke slightly blushed.

"Oh." If Sasuke could hit himself upside the head, he would have; but that was uncharacteristic of him. How could he have been so insensitive? Well, this was fantastic. He managed to make the situation even more awkward when he sought to diffuse the sombre mood in the first place.

The silence of the night was disturbed by an outburst of laughter coming from the younger teen "Chill, Sasuke! It's no big deal. Don't get your feathers all ruffled over nothing!" Naruto lightly stroked the clump of spiked hair at the back of Sasuke's head. The damage was done and the young Uchiha now felt like a royal jerk. As Sasuke covered his head with both of his hands, Naruto tried to reassure the older boy that no harm was done and that the Uchiha didn't mean any malice when he had said what he did.

"So what's your family like?" Naruto asked once the previously flushed teenager had calmed down. It was a totally out-of-the-blue question, and it caught Sasuke slightly off-guard; but he obliged the younger man's query anyway.

"I guess you can say my family's pretty high-strung. My father is always going on about how I lack initiative and all that jazz. My mother is pretty chill. She's okay, I guess. And then there's my brother. He's perfect; and my parents just adore him" Although Sasuke did indulge Naruto's question, he said his piece as quickly and as unelaborate as possible. The dark-haired young man wasn't ready to divulge everything just yet.

Sensing Sasuke's slight discomfort, Naruto didn't snoop any further; instead, the tan boy decided to move on to another topic. "Anyway, are you here to throw the garbage again, Sasuke?"

"Hm? Oh yeah. I actually almost forgot about that." The shift in discussion didn't go unnoticed and for that the older of the two was grateful. Taking his car keys out of his pocket, Sasuke made the short journey to his car.

"Yo! Wait up! I'll lend you hand." Naruto then took his guitar from on top of the garbage bin, and opened the large container. The blond then threw away his now empty beer bottle inside the bin after he had stomped on his cigarette butt. Unintentionally, as Sasuke watched Naruto kill the tiny stub, black eyes counted the unlit cigarettes that littered the area. There were about three. If all of them were from Naruto and considering that the blond had said he frequented the alley a lot recently, Sasuke was relieved that the blond was telling the truth about trying not to smoke too much. But, of course, that wasn't confirmed yet. For all Sasuke knew, the boy could be smoking like there was no tomorrow somewhere else; he doubted it though. Despite knowing Naruto for only a short amount of time, the young Uchiha trusted the younger boy now at his side.

The two teenagers were now making their way towards Sasuke's black car to take care of the trash, literally speaking. But as Sasuke made the motions to open his trunk, his gaze stopped on to Naruto's acoustic guitar and looked curiously at it. Naruto was about to ask whether his companion was alright once the blond had noticed the sudden stop of activity from the older teenager; but as blue eyes gazed on to a pale face, Naruto understood what the issue was.

"My mom gave this to me a few years ago. I kind of just learned how to play on my own, I guess.", the light-haired boy explained. Although still quite probing, Sasuke accepted the vague answer and continued to open the trunk. Both boys were now sporting one garbage bag each.

Once the task was done, Naruto closed the garbage container and, again, laid his guitar carefully on top of the lid. "Well, that's taken care of." Naruto gladly voiced out and locked his gaze to his companion. "Ducky?" Sasuke stood a few ways away from Naruto with both hands shoved in his pockets. The wealthy boy was clearly deep in thought as he stared on to the shorter boy's form.

"Ducky?" Naruto voiced out once more, but to no avail. The Uchiha was still lost in his own mind. Blond eyebrows furrowed with worry.

Sasuke couldn't understand how someone could care any less about how others thought about their person. Here was Naruto laying out personal information to a complete stranger; yet the boy didn't mind. It was also worth mentioning that Naruto had said things that were considered personal by normal standards. I mean, come on! The boy just told Sasuke that he had quit school like it was nothing. The blond took everything to stride; and it was admirable. It was also worth mentioning how the bronze boy didn't cast a single judgmental eye at Sasuke after the Uchiha had slipped and implied of his familial problems. This boy. This blond, whisker-cheeked, orange-clad, blue-eyed boy was different; and Uchiha Sasuke was hooked.

"Naruto ..." Sasuke trailed. The boy's name rolled out of his tongue effortlessly. None of the teenagers realized that it was the very first time Sasuke said Naruto's name. It was a shame that they didn't; the way Sasuke had said it was intoxicating.

Naruto was now giving him bothered glances. "Sasuke?"

"Naruto ... " the young Uchiha trailed off once again.

What had Sasuke wanted to say? That he found the boy interesting? vulgar, brash and short-tempered? That Naruto wasn't afraid to let loose? What?

"Sasuke, what's wrong?" Naruto gripped Sasuke's upper arm and shook the paler boy's body. The younger male was about ready to have a panic attack.

"Naruto I..."

What did Sasuke want to say?

That he found the shorter boy amusing?

different?

unsuperficial?

That Sasuke trusted him?

That the blond was _real _in every sense of the word?

That Uchiha Sasuke actually admired the boy that was currently looking like he was about to die from anxiety?

And as Sasuke abruptly stopped all contemplation after his last thought, then he finally spoke out.

"Naruto, I think ..."

Beep - beep- beep said the buzzing phone which was absolutely oblivious to the entire rigidity in the atmosphere.

"Shit.", and Sasuke lost whatever trance he was in as well as what he was just about to say to his companion. The older male opened his phone to reveal a recently received text. After reading the message, Sasuke gave a loud tut.

Naruto let out a breathy chuckle. "I'm guessing it's the perfect brother texting because the parents were looking for you?"

A pallid face suddenly snapped its attention towards tanner ones. That was unexplainably accurate. "How did you know?" What? Was Naruto psychic too?

"Just a lucky guess." Naruto snickered. The welcomed silence beforehand was now declared awkward by the two boys as they both gazed at anything other than each other. Evidently, the earlier tension still hadn't completely left.

"I should head out." Sasuke said; accompanied by his very own sigh. The raven-haired Uchiha resigned himself to the fact that both teenagers would just drop whatever it was that was just about to occur. It was probably for the best anyway; because Sasuke himself didn't understand what had gotten in to him in the first place."Yeah. It's getting pretty late.", and Naruto walked the few metres with Sasuke towards the black vehicle.

Once Sasuke was seated comfortably in his car, Naruto gave Sasuke a shy smile and said his goodbyes. As the blond walked away, Sasuke suddenly shouted for the departing boy.

"You never told me your whole name." Sasuke had said, and Naruto turned his body in such a way that they both saw each other's faces visibly.

"Uzumaki Naruto." With a snigger, Naruto proceeded to ask, "What about yours, ducky? And don't give me one of those 'keep it a secret from the stranger' crap. You already did it once, and it honestly loses its cool effect after the first time."

Sasuke hesitated to answer. What if Naruto changed once he found out his last name? Would he actually start to judge him? To pressure him? Taking a deep breath, Sasuke pushed down all his anxieties.

"Uchiha Sasuke." He said with an air of finality.

Naruto's eyes widened and his jaw went slack briefly, and it made Sasuke's apprehension resurface. And then the most interesting thing happened. The short form of the blond was now unexpectedly hunched over in laughter. Forget about Sasuke being uneasy, the young Uchiha was just plain confused all-together.

"That totally explains the car now, dude." The blond raised a finger and wiped a stray tear -caused by his intense laughing- from his face. Whatever traces of lingering tension in the surroundings was utterly erased by Naruto's peals of laughter. Sasuke briefly considered that maybe Naruto really was crazy.

"Get out of here, ducky, before someone from your family hunts me down for keeping you here." Naruto winked and had slapped the hood of the car.

"I'll see you around." Sasuke responded, obviously not minding the physical attack to his vehicle.

"Will do." And with a wave of Naruto's hand, Sasuke returned to his family.

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Sasuke had smiled all the way from the alley to his house foyer. He was so goddamn happy that Naruto just brushed off the fact that he was an Uchiha. Normally, he should feel offended; but he was anything but.

As he was about to move to his room, he heard his parents ecstatic voices. He stood stiffly at the first few set of steps and listened. Although slightly muffled by the walls, he had a vague idea on what they were rejoicing about. Itachi's grades had come out and they were singing praises at his older brother. Sasuke's gripped the staircase handrail while his joyous countenance vanished in to thin air. Just before he continued to climb the remaining sets of steps, Sasuke's phone rang. Unlike the first time it had sounded that night, Sasuke was grateful this time around.

The phone kept blaring indicating there was a caller on the other line. The teenager checked to see who the caller was at the same time climbing the flight of stairs. Once he had gotten at the top, Sasuke answered his phone.

"What do you want, Suigetsu?"


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Foreshadowing in the previous chapter. BALLIIIIIIN'! Erherm. Chapter could have been posted earlier but my dear mother goose decided to use my laptop (laptop's name is Olie. Yes. I name my things) to watch the 3rd season of Walking Dead. -_-" In one go might I add. Moving on, I might edit the previous chapters. I've reread the story and I noticed a couple of typos and grammar mistakes. I apologize for being so OCD with my story! It's just that it's my first posted baby, y'know?

On another note, I've recently hit a little writer's block which REALLY surprised me since I was super motivated to write this story. Let me explain. I copy-pasted the chapter flow on the document and proceeded to write. I was able to do 2 sentences. 2 SENTENCES. Then I kind of just started staring at it for the next couple of minutes ( Cough. Hours . Cough). Ugh. Well, I'll stop ranting now. Without further ado, here's chapter 4. Still not beta-read :( Warning. Errors in chapter may occur.

***DISCLAIMER APPLIES***

* * *

**Chapter 4**

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon. The sky was a clear blue and there was not a single cloud in sight. The afternoon sun was pleasant against the skin of the visitors in a park just inside the town slums. The park grounds were fairly clean and a nice hangout spot for children and adults alike; although despite being so, it was unpopular and was rarely visited by anyone from the privileged sector due to the park's location.

At this particular day, the only people in the public place were a few couples taking a stroll, and a group of children playing Marco Polo. In a more isolated part of the park were the profiles of two teenagers seated on top of a park table with their feet resting on one of the benches. The two had been there for the most part of the morning and they didn't look like they would be leaving any time soon; they were completely just chilling like how kids were supposed to. One teenager wore a plain black tank top and a pair of loose dark blue jeans. To combat the heat of the afternoon, he tied his white shoulder-length hair in to a short ponytail. His companion seemed to try to dress in an equally regular fashion, but failed miserably. The other adolescent boy had on a nicely-fitted dark blue shirt and black jeans that looked like they were made just for him. In the same way the first teenager tried to battle the sun, the blue shirt clad boy wore an old black baseball cap. The article on top of the young man's head was definitely out of place from the outfit he was sporting on.

"Uchiha, I know I'm not really in the right to say this considering how I don't care about looking good in any way, but believe me when I tell you that your cap is batshit ugly. Take it off." Suigetsu raised his hand to his mouth to reveal a half-finished joint.

"I thought I told you to not call me by my name right now." Sasuke snapped a dark look at his marijuana-reeking companion. Returning his gaze forward, the young man with a cap sighed, "Just keep quiet and smoke."

The cap on the young Uchiha's head wasn't just for the heat. Oh no, it most certainly wasn't. It actually had a more important purpose. Sasuke had put on the cap to prevent people from seeing him. In the event that someone he knew was in the vicinity, he wore the ratty old thing as a disguise. Although simple, the cap hid his face and hair perfectly. Before leaving his home, Sasuke had also decided to comb his bangs differently for extra measure.

Taking a huge puff of his joint, Suigetsu commented on Sasuke's new side-swept fringe apart from the usual bangs that framed the pale Uchiha's face. "You know, I really like how you combed your hair today. No homo, bro."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and kept silent. He figured there was no point in conversing with a person who was high on drugs. It was counterproductive and it would only serve to frustrate the raven-haired teenager.

The quiet of the moment brought a bit of peace to Sasuke's countenance. It was rare for him to be out in public places; and it was pure luck that it was exceptionally beautiful that day. Unknowingly, Sasuke closed his black irises as he basked in the peace the moment.

"I am starving yo! Let's go get some grub!" And, with the snap of a finger, the peace was gone. Sasuke was taken off-guard by Suigetsu's loud demand for food. Hopefully, Suigetsu hadn't noticed him flinch in surprise. Before Sasuke could realize, his companion had abruptly stood and sprinted across the park. It looked like the Hozuki boy was making a mad dash for the convenience store that was situated across the street.

"Yo! Could you be any slower?! Fuck! Hurry up!" This was just great. Now the buffoon was screaming like a harpy. Sasuke then concluded that the only thing more agonizing than dealing with a person who was high as fuck was dealing with a person who was high as fuck and had the munchies.

The young Uchiha decided to take his time; Suigetsu could wait. Uchihas simply did not run in public because it was unclassy to do so. You know what else was unclassy? The way Suigetsu was groveling and rolling around on the grass to show his displeasure at Sasuke's walking pace.

As the boys made their way across the street, Sasuke took a moment to scrutinize the store they were headed off to. The small store was shabby and looked worse for wear. If the high maintenance Uchiha were to choose, he would rather look for a sightlier place to purchase food; but, alas, Suigetsu had little standards, and chose the nearest and scruffiest establishment that sold easy food.

Although the convenience store had an unappealing facade, the inside was actually quite tidy, but still decrepit nonetheless. The layout consisted of three center shelves, and a series of wall racks surrounding the store. The counter and cash register were situated at the back, next to two running refrigerators; and whoever was running the till should have a clear view of the door. As of the moment, no one was watching over the store. Sasuke figured whoever was on shift was probably napping somewhere or that person could be in the in-house stockroom.

Sasuke made his way in to one of the centre aisles and looked around. This place had the most random things. There were food choices here he hadn't even heard of. Sasuke sneered at one of the potato chip flavours available. Pork and Mint flavor?

"Hey, Sasuke! I'm done!" Sasuke turned his head towards Suigetsu who was currently carrying an armful of junk food. With a grimace, black eyes focused on to one of Suigetsu's food choices in particular. The dumb shit actually took a bag of Chippies: Pork and Mint flavored potato crisps.

"You guys need any help?" The lean form of the Uchiha stiffened without warning. He knew that voice. He's heard that same voice laugh, shout, sing; he's a heard that voice portray a multitude of emotions in the short span he's known it's existed. Sasuke kept his back to the person who offered to assist them.

"Yeah. I just gotta pay for this." The sharp-toothed freak didn't even notice Sasuke's discomfort and made his way to the counter.

"Yeah, sure. What about your friend? Is he okay?" The melodious voice questioned.

"Yeah. He's just being weird." Thankfully, Suigetsu answered for him.

"You sure? He's not moving. Hey, bud? You alright?" Sasuke could hear the shuffling of the store clerk's feet. Oh no. Sasuke panicked at the clerk's approaching form.

Sasuke tried to calm himself down. What's the worst that could happen, he chanted.

And ever so slowly, Sasuke turned his body around where he knew he would see a short tan boy with blond hair and blue eyes.

"Sasuke?" Naruto couldn't help but gasp out. Suigetsu's ears perked as the blond store employee called the Uchiha's name.

"Hey Sasuke! Imagine seeing you here of all places. How've you been, ducky?" The tan face had on its signature ear-splitting grin. The boy was wearing a shoddy white shirt that had the store name printed on its front. Naruto's blue jeans appeared to hang loosely on his hips; the pant legs ended up bunched on the floor, covering almost a third of each of Naruto's black sneakers. Sasuke remained silent in spite of his desire to converse with Naruto.

"Yo Sasuke, do you know this schmuck?" Just as Sasuke feared once he had heard Naruto's voice, Suigetsu was starting to ask questions.

"Who's the schmuck, you stoner?" Naruto clenched his hand into a fist as he looked angrily at the white-haired boy who was now ignoring him.

"Uchiha, who's the charity case?" Suigetsu prodded. With the mention of his illustrious last name, Sasuke instantly understood what he had to do.

"Nobody. He's just some street kid I helped out once." Blue-eyes widened at the response.

Naruto's clenched fist started to quake, "Sasuke, what-?"

"Look at him calling you by your first name and getting all buddy-buddy! Yo blondie, you're out of your league!" Suigetsu sniggered.

"Leave him be, Suigetsu. The kid's poor and he quit school. He's essentially worthless. At least let him think he's actually friends with someone like me as a consolation." Sasuke's black eyes landed on to horrified blue ones and he proceeded to smirk. Sasuke had to do this. Naruto would understand, wouldn't he? The smug expression on Sasuke's face slightly fell when Naruto's silence endured.

"Oh, wow. So the kid really is a schmuck and, not to mention, a bum!" Suigetsu doubled-over as he cackled in sadistic glee.

"You fucking bastards." The venom in Naruto's voice burnt Sasuke's skin. The young Uchiha would explain later but for now, he hoped to God, Naruto would understand.

"Aw! Is the stray little kitty cat angry?" Suigetsu then pinched Naruto's livid face. "Hey, since you're best friends with Sasuke over here, why don't you just give the food for free?"

Naruto smacked the offending hand away from his face. "Go to hell, asshole!" There was only so much crap a guy could take before he snapped.

"Sasuke, your friend is so stingy! Let's teach him a lesson." The Hozuki boy's violet eyes gleamed with mischief; and when no one expected it, he kicked one of the on floor shelves causing a domino effect. He then picked up hard random store item on the floor and threw it all over the place.

"Son of a bitch!" Naruto made to tackle the wildly hooting vandal to the ground, only to be shoved aside by the white-haired teen like some rag doll. The blond hit the store counter's corner brutally. As Naruto's pained form slid to the ground, he managed to breathe out one plea. "Stop.", the boy begged. He looked towards Sasuke's still form and beseeched with his eyes. "Sasuke, stop him" Yet Sasuke ignored the request and did nothing.

To say that the place was a complete mess was an understatement. The merchandise was all over the floor, and there were a lot of broken glasses and wares. Whoever owned the place would definitely not be pleased.

"Well, that was fun." Suigetsu brushed his two hands together as if to denote a job well done. "C'mon Uchiha, before the kid calls the cops on us." Just before Suigetsu exited, he did a double-take and rushed towards the counter; or rather, what was left of it anyways. He took the items he had chosen beforehand, as well as few others that lay scattered. "Thanks for the free food, kid! Let's go, Uchiha!" And, finally, Suigetsu made a run for it and was out of the shop.

Sasuke looked at the destruction Suigetsu had caused and grinded his teeth. Hozuki went a little overboard. The ears of the young Uchiha made out someone stumbling and wheezing at his periphery. He inclined his head to where he had heard the noise and saw Naruto's form struggling to stand up. At this precise moment, Uchiha Sasuke was released from whatever stupor he was in. He horrifyingly gaped at the store clerk who was making an effort to stand.

Sasuke jerked his body in a split second in an attempt to aid the abused boy. "Naruto..." Sasuke's velvet voice whispered as he tried to grasp a tan forearm. The young Uchiha did not anticipate the same tan forearm to move, bringing with it a hand that slapped pale ones away.

"Don't." A voice dripping with anger and disappointment commanded. Blue eyes kept their gaze to the cluttered shop floor. The blond then began to pick up the store merchandise on the tiled-ground. Sasuke's lean figure started to shake. Naruto wasn't looking at him.

"Hey." He tried to call Naruto's attention once more only to be ignored. Naruto carried on with tidying up. Goddamnit look at me and say something, Sasuke internally yelled. Do something, anything, the Uchiha was now silently begging; begging whatever god was up there to make Naruto acknowledge his presence. Please, his erratic mind urged.

"Hey blockhead!" That last heed for Naruto did it. Naruto shot Sasuke an expression of pure spite.

"I said don't, you bastard!" the scream echoed across the small confines of the shop. Naruto released a slow shaky breath to compose himself. "Just get out of here. I need to clean up." The blond store clerk then resumed his work.

Sasuke persisted with trying to justify himself. "But..."

"Leave, _Uchiha._" The way Naruto had said his last name made his blood run cold. Never in his life had someone said his name in such a manner and it caused him severe emotional pain. The fact that Naruto was the one who said it made it, if possible, even worse. The whole affair made his chest constrict achingly which led him to quicken his breaths. It hurt.

And slowly, ever so slowly, Sasuke turned his body around where he knew he would see the door, away from a certain short tan boy with blond hair and blue eyes.

Once outside, he looked back to Naruto's form only to see dim blue eyes solely focused on the ground. Just as he was about to turn away from the sight, lifeless blue eyes peered at the young Uchiha with a sideways glance. Sasuke found himself frozen in his place once again. Naruto solemnly shook his head and turned away from Uchiha Sasuke's sophisticated figure.

llllllllllllllllllll

For the rest of the day, Sasuke couldn't get the events of that afternoon out of his head; couldn't understand how the day ended up being disastrous. He met up with Suigetsu to deliver the drugs the latter ordered last Thursday night. Both then decided to hang around for a bit. Sasuke agreed because he wanted to be away from the Uchiha property in general. The two teenagers stayed there for a couple of hours. Suigetsu decided to smoke to pass the time, while he just kind of sat there basking in the peace the park had brought. Then Suigetsu got hungry; the catalyst of The Disaster. Not only had Suigetsu caused the situation, the douchebag also completely abandoned Sasuke after The Disaster; probably figured the cops would be there. Why Sasuke chose to hang around with the treacherous druggie was beyond him.

It was a fact that Uchiha Sasuke felt superior to others; the only exception being his older brother. He always thought he was in the right and just by being who he was, everything he did was justified. Everything Uchiha Sasuke did was perfect to the public eye. Most of the time, he even felt truly perfect; this was not one of those times.

Whenever Sasuke felt inadequate, it was because he was being compared to Itachi. The youngest Uchiha, though feeling inferior, would mentally reason that his parents (his father in particular) just had unreasonable standards; Sasuke would then get back on his high horse until another comparison to his older brother arose. Today, it was different. His feelings of inadequacy as a person were genuinely hitting him where it hurt. This time, instead of inferiority, he experienced the cold stabs of guilt and he had no one to blame but himself. He felt guilty because no matter how many which ways he looked at it, what he did to Naruto would never be justified , be it to others or, most especially, to himself.

Currently, Sasuke was in his room wallowing in utter grief. He expected restless days and sleepless nights ahead of him; unless, of course, if he apologized to Naruto. He abruptly checked his high-end watch; 8:30 P.M., it said. Sasuke took his car keys from his back pocket and dashed to his car. Hopefully, his hunch on Naruto's exact whereabouts was correct.

Sasuke raced towards the alley and arrived in less than ten minutes. He hastily parked his car, not even bothering to shut off the engine. He didn't know why he was rushing, just felt he had to.

"Naruto? You there?" he shakily asked as he turned the alley's corner. Much to his dismay, the place was empty. Sasuke buried his face in his hands and groaned out loud. With a sudden urge to relieve himself from his pent-up frustration, he hurriedly searched for something to kick. Spotting a pebble a few steps away, he kicked with great force towards the opposite fence. The pebble ricocheted and travelled across the alley where it hit the large garbage bin. The clang of the small rock hitting metal had Sasuke gazing at the bin's general area. Dark eyes squinted at what he saw.

On the ground surrounding the bin lay three used cigarettes. Now, you may be wondering why Sasuke was analyzing the stubs that littered the alley. It wasn't the three cigarette butts that caught his attention. Oh no, it wasn't. It was the fourth cigarette that he took interest in. What he found most interesting about the fourth one was the fact that it was still lighted; the smoke it emitted was barely visible. Sasuke released a strangled noise from the back of his throat. The half-finished cigarette was lit; miniscule flames gradually burning one end.

A pale, lean form slouched in disheartenment. Sasuke had just missed Naruto.


	6. Chapter 5 (Part I)

**A/N: **First off, I'd like to say HAPPY NEW YEAR! Wheeee~

I mention football in there at some point. To clarify, I meant football as in soccer football, not American football. :D I just find football players hotter than athletes from other sports. Also, if any of you are having trouble imagining the layout of the Uchiha residence, any of you could pm me for any clarifications. This extends to any other matters that you may find confusing.

Also on a more important note, I deemed it worthy for this chapter to have 2 parts. I think the events that will transpire in this chapter needed to have its own limelight (since it concerned a little character development for our two favourite boys). If I were to put the two focal points of the chapter together, one might get overshadowed by the other. And I decided not to split Chapter 5 in to two chapters because I had already done a chapter flow beforehand. Ahehehe. I didn't want to confuse myself. I get confused easily. (sweatdrop)

Chapter 5 is unedited and not beta-read! :D boo.:( I tried self-proofreading but that can only get me so far. I apologize for any errors.

***DISCLAIMER APPLIES***

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**Part I**

Three days.

For three days, Sasuke drove around town to look for Naruto. To any person from the third party, it would seem a little excessive to search for someone you barely know for three days straight; and it was, but apparently not for the raven-haired youth.

The first day, Sasuke left early morning to patrol the town's slums. What was really interesting about this fact was that Sasuke never set his alarm to go off so he could, consequently, leave early. He left early because he couldn't sleep the night before as Sunday afternoon's events kept playing and replaying in his mind. Truthfully speaking, the young Uchiha never got to have his beauty rest. This resulted to him traversing around the poor side of town with dark bags under his eyes.

At some point during that morning, his body decided it was too tired to function, yet his mind was utterly against it. This boy, despite being fatigued, was desperate to find a certain blond-haired individual. His method of searching basically consisted of him driving to the alley, circling the slums, stopping by the convenience store (which was completely clean aside from the few shattered glasses here and there), after which he would then return to the alley. Rinse, Lather, Repeat. He kept using this strategy for the rest of the day; only stopping at the gas station for gas, a sandwich, and the restroom. He never once stopped to rest his weary body.

The second day was a little less hectic for Sasuke. Unlike the previous night, he managed to fall asleep but only for a few hours. He wasn't just consciously thinking about The Disaster; he was dreaming about it as well, particularly the way Naruto's face dimmed in disappointment. Yup. That had Sasuke bolting for his car in no time flat; but fate decided to screw with him a little. Once he reached the house foyer, his mother called for him so they could eat breakfast together. Apparently, the other two family members were still slumbering and his dear old mother was eating breakfast alone. Imagine her great delight once she saw Sasuke ungracefully making his way to the entrance hall.

Breakfast with his mother was surprisingly pleasant. His father wasn't present so his mother was completely tending to him. She talked about the little things that happened to her the previous days, asked what her son wanted for his birthday, joked about girls; generally, she was being a normal mom. Sasuke realized how rare it was for his mother to act so naturally around him so he postponed his Naruto search for a few hours to take advantage of his mother 'babying' him.

As they were about to finish with their meal, Mikoto changed her pleasant demeanor and took on a more serious stance. She told Sasuke how Fugaku was complaining about Sasuke's complete absence the previous day. The woman made her way to her youngest son and crouched beside him.

"I advise you to stay in today, sweetheart. Your father was mildly ranting yesterday. He won't be as tolerating if you're gone the whole day again today." She said as she caressed Sasuke's left cheek. Sasuke gazed on to his mother's face. She was indescribably beautiful. It made him proud that he inherited his mother's features.

Mikoto was about to kiss the young man's forehead when Fugaku decided to enter the dining area. Stopping her actions, Mikoto abruptly straightened herself from her crouched position and returned to her seat. With a heavy sigh, he prepared to explain yesterday's nonappearance to his father.

After a few short exchanges, his father had dismissed him from the table. Sasuke had defended that he was out practicing football with a few friends. His father had let it slide; Sasuke was a team captain nominee for his school's football team, along with another person. The youngest Uchiha figured that his absence was forgiven because he was trying to get ahead of his 'competition'.

Knowing that he couldn't use the same excuse for that day's search, Sasuke went out in short intervals throughout that day. He managed to sneak out a couple of times and drive to one or two Naruto landmarks before he deemed it time to return to Uchiha property. He would then wait for the next opportunity to sneak away like some convict.

The third day was the by far the worst out of the three days. By this point, Sasuke was relapsing due to excessive desperation and overall exhaustion. As he did the first time, he spent the full day to search for Naruto; the only difference was that Sasuke frantically drove around the entire town. Though slowly breaking down, he searched every nook and cranny of the god-forsaken community yet Naruto was nowhere to be found.

"It's a fucking town! Where in fuck's name could he be?" groaned Sasuke as he stopped by the alley for the nth time. The young man took a glance at the horizon from his window. The sun was almost setting. The day was about to end and Naruto was still missing.

For three days, Sasuke had not eaten properly, had not slept well, had mentally wracked his brain to make up an excuse for his family, and so on. The young Uchiha was tired. So goddamned tired. With that in mind, Sasuke made his way to the slums for the last time but for a different purpose.

The destination Sasuke had in mind was a place he'd only been to twice before. Both times, he had been forced to go. This third time, however, was completely of his own accord. He didn't bother parking his car where nobody could see. Sasuke was just too drained to care. The young man went inside a worn-out shanty located in one of the narrow inner streets found in the slums. Inside, there sat a man watching television as he drank a bottle of beer.

"Fuck, kid. Back already?" The sly-looking man asked with apparent amusement while fixing his pair of large round glasses.

"Hn." A grunt. That was all the answer this criminal needed.

"Articulate as ever, kid." The man rolled his eyes.

"Just give me the usual, Kabuto." Sasuke growled out. The young Uchiha was clearly irritable by this point; and honestly, who wouldn't?

"You should know how we deal business, boy. Money first." The person named Kabuto stood up and glared at the young man situated near the front door.

"Tch. Here." Sasuke tossed a fairly sizable amount at Kabuto's feet. The latter then continued to palm through the cash as it was standard operating procedure to see if the money checked-out of the criteria. Seeing that all was well, Kabuto went inside another room in the small living space. He came out a few moments later with a familiar set of plastic bags on hand.

"You're good to go, kid. Here's the stash." Once Kabuto had given the drugs, Sasuke abruptly left.

Just before Sasuke exited the shanty, he heard small scuffling towards the end of the narrow street. Probably just rats, he guessed. Not an absurd idea, considering where he was. Hiding his purchases under his shirt, he sprinted across the cluttered street to his car.

In his hurry to get out of the vicinity, a lone lighter lain randomly next to the shanty door was left unnoticed.

llllllllllllllllllll

The youngest Uchiha achieved to get home in record time. Sasuke took one look at the Uchiha residence and immediately knew that the family had guests over. The lights all over the property were lit, when on any normal day, the house would appear desolate and dreary; but the dead giveaway would be the parked cars on the Uchiha's front expanse of land. The raven-haired youth groaned in great irritation. In his current state, he was nowhere near presentable for their guests. He looked like crap, literally, with his casual wear, dishevelled hair, and dark eye bags, added with the fact that he had drugs with him at the moment. The boy needed to sneak in his own house. It was the only solution.

After parking his car in its designated garage, Sasuke hid the drugs under his shirt once again. After taking a quick look at his surroundings, he sprinted to the boundaries of his house. He crept towards one of the windows and peeked in. With that one peek, he was able to determine which room the family and their guests were using. Sasuke mentally fist pumped when he saw that only the receiving room was in use. It also was worth noting that there were only a few number of gentlemen present. Although the whole situation being in his favor thus far, he decided to play it safe and not use the front door. If he used the front entrance, there was little to no chance of him being caught since a part of the entrance hall that led to the stairs was slightly visible at a certain angle from the receiving room; whereas if he used the backdoor, chances of him being caught would be at zero percent. Clearly a no brainer for the young Uchiha.

Sasuke went around his house's outer walls so he could gain access from the back door. He made sure that none of the house helps saw him sneaking about. Letting the neighbours see him was also not an option. He figured having the local police after his ass would just make everything a billion times worse.

The young man took one last look through the kitchen window before confirming that no one was present. Sasuke predicted that the maids were currently arranging the dining area. With keys in hand, he unlocked the back door and stealthily crept across his house, up the stairs he went, and shut his door. Safe, he mentally exclaimed.

After hiding the objects under his shirt in their usual spot, Sasuke hastily took off his clothing. His collared shirt was up over his head and flung across the room in an instant. Under the setting sun's light, Sasuke's chiseled torso glistened. It needed to be reiterated that this young man was definitely some type of God's gift to the world.

As he was unfastening his dark jeans, he scanned the room for his fluffy white towel. Once he was completely out of his clothing, he wrapped the towel around his midsection and ran to his awaiting bathroom.

The water sliding along his perfectly sculpted body was of the perfect temperature and it managed to soothe some of his tensed muscled. As all men do when they were in the shower, his mind began to wander. His thoughts never did get to reach the more elaborate topics of the world, even if the youngest Uchiha wanted to. He would always return to thinking about his favourite blond. Sasuke beat himself at the fact that he royally fucked up with that one.

The raven-haired teen suddenly found himself thinking about Naruto in general rather than his grand mishap at the convenience store. He thought about Naruto's tan skin. His subtle curves. His breathtaking smile and the way it would open to release a melodious laugh. The mysterious whisker-like lines on his cheeks. His bright blond hair that would spike up to an array of directions. And finally, those blue eyes that should be a hell of lot more vivid than they currently were.

Sasuke's pale arm suddenly shot out to take hold of the shower knob. With a turn of his wrist, he lowered the water's setting to a colder temperature. So lost was he in his thoughts of Naruto that he did not notice how hot the room had become. Honestly. One would think that this boy who was in his late teen years would know better and understand that the room was not increasing in temperature at all. Although, in his defense, Sasuke had never had someone consume his mind in such a way.

A few more minutes in the shower and Sasuke judged it to be time to be dressing up for their house guests. The young man had wiped his body dry with the same fluffy white towel he was previously searching for and was now determining his choice of clothing in his walk-in closet.

Sasuke pulled out a smart-looking, dark grey dress shirt and black slacks and proceeded to wear both articles. Gazing at himself in the mirror, he gave a small smirk and commented at how well he could clean up. He took out an elegant onyx necktie and tied it flawlessly under his collar. Finally wearing his black dress shoes, he fixed his posture and gracefully climbed down the staircase. Fugaku had definitely brought up his youngest to be a fine Uchiha.

llllllllllllllllllll

After making his presence known Sasuke, apologized for his earlier absence and let his eyes rake over the people in their receiving room. Their guests consisted of affluent-looking men; two of which he was personally familiar with. Hiashi and Hizashi of the Hyuuga family, both owned masses of lands after the town's boundary. They generally used their land for agriculture but they were recently looking in to businesses of leisurely nature. The rest of their guests were familiar to him only by face.

Sasuke greeted his father with a small bow of his head. As Fugake usually did, he eyed his youngest's sharp form. The next few seconds greatly shocked Sasuke; his father gave him a pleasant smirk and a pat on his back. Sasuke had just passed Fugaku's first test.

"Gentlemen, I do believe most of you haven't met my youngest son. This is Sasuke." The booming voice of his father reverberated in the room. The Hyuugas gave the young Uchiha a nod of recognition while the other three guests approached both father and son.

"Isn't he a strapping young lad, Uchiha. You must be very proud." One of the men commented. He had silky, long black hair and his skin was of a sickly pale shade.

"Sasuke, this is Orochimaru. He leads an organization located at the neighbouring town." Fugaku explained. Sasuke gave a polite tilt of his head to the person he was just introduced to and gave a practiced smile. He patiently waited for Orochimaru to extend his hand for a handshake as it was proper etiquette to wait for a man of a higher status to initiate the gesture. Curiously, the handshake never came. Sasuke gazed questioningly at this Orochimaru person only to find the man leering at him. If this wasn't creepy, Sasuke didn't know what was.

"I am very pleased to meet you, Mr. Orochimaru. As my father had announced, my name is Sasuke. We are happy to have you here tonight." Instead of the handshake, Sasuke decided to erase the awkwardness with him properly introducing himself.

"Young man, you may simply call me Orochimaru. Mister just sounds too dry for my tastes." The older man then started to lick his lips with his unusually long tongue. Sasuke couldn't help but shiver in disgust. If that man ever decided to visit the Uchiha house again, Sasuke swore he would run for the hills.

"Stop scaring the poor boy, Orochimaru.", commanded the second man. This one, evidently, was the oldest man out of everyone on the room. He exuded authority with just the way he stood. Sasuke couldn't help but notice how the elderly man's right eye was heavily bandaged. The young Uchiha swiftly averted his eyes elsewhere. He vaguely remembered his mother telling him that it was very rude to stare.

"My name is Shimura Danzo, young man. Unlike Orochimaru, I rather like to be addressed with respect. It would do you well to remember that." This one was a complete stiff, Sasuke mentally commented. Danzo extended his right hand for a handshake and Sasuke shook the offered hand firmly.

"I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr. Shimura." Two down, one more to go.

"Danzo is the new head of one of the police divisions, Sasuke." Fugaku cut in, who was now grasping a glass of red wine. Huh. Sasuke never realized his father had briefly left.

"I am Pain. You needn't tell your boy of what I do, Fugaku." The last man had chin-length crimson hair. He was terribly skinny as well. Sasuke briefly considered whether or not the man was terminally ill. Before Sasuke could acknowledge the introduction, Pain had turned and left the group, opting to converse with the eldest Uchiha son.

"Don't mind him, son. Awfully secretive, that one. Only talks with your brother." Fugaku placed an arm around his youngest son.

"If you gentlemen don't mind the interruption, I was just told that dinner is served." Mikoto's gentle voice cut through the space within the receiving room. With that single announcement, Sasuke's evening had officially begun.

llllllllllllllllllll

Step one: Wait for the host have their seat at the dining table before taking your own; the only exception being when the host asks you to do so.

"Please have your seats, everyone." Fugaku amiably announced as he pulled the seat to the right of his desired place. As if on cue, Mikoto sat herself on the chair her husband had offered to her. Fugaku then proceeded to seat himself at the head of the table. Itachi sat at the left-hand side of their father whereas Sasuke chose to sit next to their mother.

Pain preferred to have his seat next to Itachi as Sasuke had predicted. What Sasuke hadn't foreseen, however, was Orochimaru's placement at the table. After their hair-raising introduction, Sasuke assumed the eccentric man would have chosen the chair next to the youngest Uchiha. Thankfully, the man selected the spot next to Pain. Lastly but surely not the least, Danzo had claimed the vacant seat beside Sasuke.

Seconds after everyone had taken their seats, the house help all arrived with individual steaming bowls of soup. A basket of bread choices was then place at the centre of the table.

Step two: After the dinner host unfolds his napkin, only then can others do the same. Place the napkin on one's lap to prevent spills and messes. The meal is now officially started.

"Sasuke, how old are you, my boy?" Orochimaru's miry voice was kept at a moderate volume.

Step three: One must not converse excessively loud. It is also the basic rule to never speak when one's mouth is full.

"I am seventeen, sir." Sasuke responded, keeping his posture upright. His right hand held his soup spoon accordingly whilst his left hand remained positioned on his lap.

"Really now, Sasuke. I told you to stop the formalities. Orochimaru is fine." The man then pinched a piece of the bread from the plate placed on the upper left-hand side of his table-set.

"You must forgive me, sir. I am simply not accustomed to calling gentlemen of high authority, such as yourself, so familiarly." The explanation his son gave satisfied Fugaku greatly, as well as the person Sasuke was addressing.

"Your boy is quite the charmer, isn't he, Fugaku?" Danzo quipped in.

"He must be popular with his lady friends, I presume?" Orochimaru added.

Step four: It is appropriate that all guests are able to converse and mingle with everyone at the dinner table.

Before Fugaku could give his reply, Mikoto interrupted, "Of course. My son has quite a number of admirers, don't you, Sasuke?" The woman lovingly swept a stray piece of hair away from Sasuke's face.

"I suppose." Sasuke nonchalantly answered. He carefully considered this response before voicing it out. Anything other than what he replied might imply that he liked the attention they were speaking of.

"I wouldn't be surprised. Sasuke is one of the best, if not at the top, of his batch, a candidate for his football team's next captain. What else, son?" Sasuke couldn't help but place a look of restrained shock on his face. His father was actually bragging about him. This was something new.

"Didn't you get elected as Student Council President, little brother?" And suddenly, Itachi was in the fray. Pain, who was just staring at the youngest son of the Uchiha family, remained quiet.

"Yes. I did." Sasuke gazed back to his father. It was worth noticing that Fugaku looked very pleased as of the moment.

"So Sasuke is quite the catch." That singular comment from Orochimaru caused goose bumps along Sasuke's body. The man was a total creeper.

"I wish my Hinata was as assertive as you, Sasuke. She's too timid. She makes me doubt her capabilities once she inherits Hyuuga lands." Hiashi sighed his woes as he gently rested his spoon.

"Hiashi, fret not. We still have Neji to guide her." The other Hyuuga mentioned. Sasuke agreed to both their statements. Hinata was in his batch and was notoriously known for her incessant stuttering. A complete wallflower, she was. Her cousin, Neji, on the other hand, was very much like Sasuke in many ways. Neji was from a batch higher and was the previous Student Council President. He was also a previous captain, not for the football team, but for the judo team.

"Isn't Nara Shikaku's boy in your class as well? I heard he ran against you for the elections, and yet you still won. I'm impressed. Nara's boy is a genius." Hiashi now completely drifted away from the previous subject. It seemed that the older Hyuuga was a bit bitter when it came to Hinata and Neji. Ah, Jealousy, a dark and nasty force that often erased the deepest of bonds between families and persons.

"Sir, I don't mean to sound cocky, but I also think I'm quite the genius myself." Sasuke smirked from the glass currently touching his soft lips. "Also, I do have the women's vote, sir. That's roughly about half the school population; possibly more." The boy exuded great confidence. However, his act was a fallacy. If these people were to look any closer, the contents of the glass Sasuke was currently holding exhibited mild tremors. The young Uchiha's hand was inconspicuously shaking.

Confidence can never be taught; it is, unfortunately, earned. In this day and age, one gets nowhere when one has nothing to show for. Before these highly successful men, Sasuke's accomplishments were child's play. To think that these were the exact same men Sasuke had to impress. Please forgive the boy if he was resurfacing facts that seemed to up his standings.

"I rather liked that Haruno girl, Sasuke. Inoichi's daughter is also quite the young lady. You should consider dating them." Have you ever had your extremely stoic father suggest women you could date? No? Well, Sasuke thought it was tremendously perplexing.

"We'll see, father. Women aren't really under my list of priorities as of right now." Like hell Sasuke would date them. They were too obsessive; the same went for all the girls in his school.

Step five: Make sure to keep up with everyone's eating pace. One must not eat too quickly and finish before the rest of the guests. If one eats slowly, it is favorable that one should speed up so as not to keep others waiting.

The maids had taken away the first course and were now serving the main dish. Each individual steak on the table was grilled marvellously. Not too dry, not too rare; it was perfect. The pasta al dente was topped with tomato-based sauce and seafood.

Step six: Eating noises are the worst possible thing a person can do. It is proper to cut no more than two bites of food at a single time. Be reminded to make use of your napkin to wipe one's mouth every so often. Remember to keep table etiquette in the whole duration of the dinner.

The whole dinner affair went by slower than desired for the youngest Uchiha. He was surprisingly on the hot seat this time around, instead of his older brother. They would stray off to new topics every now and then, but strangely enough, they would end up going back to prying about Sasuke's ongoings. Because all attention was on his person, he didn't get to enjoy the meal as much as he had wanted. He had to think about sitting up straight, answering the questions with poise, retorting wittingly enough, retelling tales eloquently, tact, and so on. Even as dessert ended, he was still being butchered with inquiries and comments.

Finally, step seven: If one is done eating, it is not in good form to push one's plates away or stack them all together. Take cues from the host or other guests when it is alright to leave the table.

"Gentlemen, I do believe we have some business to discuss; if you could all proceed to the office. I need a word with my son." After Fugaku's announcement, the guests went on their merry way to the study. Sasuke made motions of leaving the dining area (thinking that his father had meant a word with Itachi), when a large hand placed itself upon Sasuke's broad shoulder.

"You did well tonight, Sasuke. Better than I expected. I hope to see you act more like this on a daily basis. You'll be just like your brother in no time." The smile on Fugaku's face was undoubtedly one of pride.

"Father, I'd like to assist you with your dealings." Sasuke had moved on without acknowledging his father's request. Fortunately, Fugaku did not notice the avoidance of the issue.

"You and your brother will not be needed this time, Sasuke. I'd like to deal with this on my own." Fugaku nodded to his eldest to confirm whether Itachi had heard. Itachi tilted his head in recognition thus signalled Fugaku's departure.

"I'll be getting ready for bed now. Goodnight, boys. Please don't stay up too late." Mikoto kissed her boys on each of their cheek and proceeded to the master bedroom.

"I commend you, Sasuke. You did perfectly tonight." Itachi poured himself a glass of scotch.

"Hn. I'm going upstairs." Sasuke then ignored his brother's compliment. Not as if it was worth anything to the younger sibling.

"Very well, Sasuke." The oldest Uchiha son made his way to the receiving room. He would most likely stay there mulling over whatever it was that occupied that genius brain of his.

Sasuke jogged up the stairs and in to his room in no time at all. Once inside the confines of his room, Sasuke's form visibly went slack against his door. He hadn't realized how wound up he was the whole evening. He hadn't noticed how stressed the exchanges with their guests had made him. As of this moment, as Sasuke was seated haphazardly next to his door, he felt like a spring that was ultimately wound up too much; and his father expected him to act the same way every single day for the rest of his life?

Suddenly, the air in the room felt too heavy, too stuffy. Sasuke tried to take in deep breaths but felt as if none of the air was getting in to his lungs. He abruptly stood up and opened one of his windows. As he leaned on his window sill, he took an audible breath; still nothing. By this time, Sasuke was hyperventilating. Fuck. Did Sasuke need to calm down.

Sasuke reached under his mattress and took out a bag of marijuana. He quickly rolled up a single joint and lit it in a matter of seconds. In two minutes flat, he had finished one stick of marijuana. He thought the drug would somewhat ease his frantic state but it was no help at all. The air was still a bit too heavy, too stuffy, too _suffocating_ for his tastes. Sasuke could only come up with one solution.

He needed to get out of the house.

After rolling up four more sticks of marijuana, Sasuke took his keys and ran down the stairs.

"Sasuke, what's wrong? Where are you going?" Itachi asked from the receiving room. His older brother's face was scrunched up in worry.

"Don't you think the house is kind of stuffy?" Sasuke tried to confirm whether or not he was just imagining things.

"No. The house is fine. What's wrong?" The older man was now making his way towards his younger sibling.

Sasuke jerked out of his brother's way and ran for the door. "I'm going out. I need some air." And the raven-haired teenager was out the door, in his car, and away from his family. As of the moment, as far away from Uchiha grounds as humanly possible.

llllllllllllllllllll

In the next couple of minutes, Sasuke spent his time driving around with his car window open. He managed to finish two out of the four joints in his pocket, and he was now halfway through his third stick. Subconsciously, Sasuke ended up driving towards the direction of his alley. He didn't mind; not as if anyone was there at the moment. His bitter thoughts sent flashes of blond hair and blue eyes across his mind.

As he slowly parked his car, his ears perk at the sound of guitar strings being plucked. Black eyes widened. It can't be, he mentally gasped. Out of all the times, it had to be tonight.

Sasuke shut off his engine and slowly made his way out the car after extinguishing his third hit. Just as he was about to round the alley's corner, the plucking stopped. Black brows furrowed in confusion. An irrational part of his brain was screaming 'psychic', when he noticed that he had cast a shadow across the alley's entrance. This precise moment was what someone would generally call 'The Point of No Return'. With an audible gulp, he made himself known to the person leisurely sitting atop the large garbage bin.

"I was hoping it wasn't you."


	7. Chapter 5 (Part II)

**A/N: **I just wanted to make one part clear just in case some of you found it confusing. I meant to call Nagato "Pain" in Part 1. I won't say why for now 'cause it might kind of accidentally spoil some aspects in my story. Sorry! :D

Do you guys know the story We Three by Cannibal Inc? If you haven't read it, you should. It's one heck of an emotional rollercoaster. Way back when the story was still in progress, I would excitedly wait for Thursday (update day) just so I could read it. I was more excited to read a new chapter from the story than the new chapter from the manga. It's also the first story I gave a review to (back when I didn't have an account). That's a big deal for me. I'm generally too lazy to send out a review (Heck. I didn't even bother thinking up a name. It just said 'guest') but I just had to express to the author how much I loved the story. I reread the story just for kicks and decided to make it my personal goal to make at least one person love Fast Car or any future story I make like how I love We Three. One day.. .. Hopefully. (doom and gloom)

Anyway, Part II is here (not beta-read)! Please do let me know how I'm doing, guys. :D I'm sorry if there are any mistakes.

***DISCLAIMER APPLIES***

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**Part II**

"I was hoping it wasn't you."

Sasuke couldn't help but wince at the chilling way Naruto had said his 'greeting'. The raven-haired youth kept silent and merely gawked at the other teenager in his presence. The blond was wearing the same thing the first day they met, Sasuke noted.

"What? Stray little kitten got your tongue?" Naruto was openly sneering at him now. If Sasuke didn't talk soon, the blond would leave. You searched for this boy for the past three days almost nonstop, talk goddamnit, the young Uchiha was mentally reprimanding himself.

"...Whatever. I was just about to leave anyway." Naruto jumped down with his guitar from the top of the large bin and walked to exit the alley.

Talk, talk, talk, goddamn say something, Sasuke chanted yet he remained soundless. It appalled him that he couldn't find it in himself to even utter a single noise. Instead, he just stood there making a complete fool out of himself. To think that not an hour ago, the young Uchiha was conversing with wealthy and successful men with such fluency.

As Naruto went past his motionless body, Sasuke blurted out "Where were you all this time?" Not necessarily the apology Sasuke was aiming for but, hey, it was a start.

Naruto stopped in his tracks. "What's it to you, bastard?" Both teenagers refused to face the other. The older boy because of shame, while the other, due to antagonistic disappointment.

Sasuke flinched at the foul name Naruto chose to address him. The older teenager never thought he'd ever miss the pet name 'Ducky' in his lifetime. "I've been looking for you."

The scoff Naruto gave out was dripping with disdain. "And I've been avoiding you. That's why I'm heading out so I can continue to do so."

Blue eyes grew in size when a pale arm shot out to stop his motions of leaving the alley."Naruto. Please." The velveteen voice of the young Uchiha was laced with anguish. "Please.", he unconsciously repeated.

"I don't understand how someone like you could have something to ask for from someone like me." Naruto still refused to face Sasuke's pleading face. "Didn't you say I was worthless? So what are you saying 'please' for?" The soft voice of the younger teenager started to shake midsentence.

"Please, Naruto."

"What do you want from me, Uchiha?!" Naruto pushed the pale hand that was previously grasping him. He turned his body towards Sasuke's stiff form yet kept his head lowered. Sasuke stepped closer towards Naruto shorter frame and noticed that the boy's blue eyes were shut tight.

Sasuke lightly stroked Naruto's whiskered-cheek with the tip of his fingers. "Naruto, look at me. Please." At the intimate gesture, Naruto's eyes snapped open; and for a couple of seconds, both were lost in each other's gaze. In that short span of time, the young Uchiha briefly forgot how to breathe. Only one word popped in to Sasuke's genius brain as he stared right in to Naruto's blue depths.

_Wow_.

However, once the blond teenager realized how close they were, he turned his head away, after which, he stepped back. It was also at this moment that Sasuke resumed his breathing.

"If you came here expecting to see a train-wreck then you're sorely mistaken, you bastard. I've handled worse things than your petty bullying." Naruto straightened his stance in an attempt to appear dauntless.

"Naruto, let me explain -"

"Explain?!" The older boy never had a chance to finish his sentence when Naruto interrupted. The latter was seething, as shown by the steadily growing redness in his cheeks.

"How can you explain laying total wreckage in the place I work at? Which, by the way, the owner decided to cut back on my salary to pay for damages. Explain the slander you spewed out from your oh-so conceited mouth that day? Explain how you just stood there and ignored me when I was asking for your help?" The grip Naruto had on the neck of his guitar intensified. If the boy didn't simmer down soon, he may risk breaking the guitar his mother had given him.

"How, pray tell, can you explain all that shit you pulled?!" Suddenly, Naruto's free hand ruthlessly yanked Sasuke's collar. "I'd really love to hear it!"

For three days, Sasuke looked for the blond who was currently snarling at him. Hardly any sleep, packaged with the fact that he hardly ate as well; and just when he thought he could finally rest for just a moment, his father brought guests at their house. Hey, since he was already tired why not push himself a little more just to see what happens? And push himself, he did, proven by his exceptional performance at Uchiha's dining table. The pressure of it all was overpowering. Sasuke was exhausted.

"Explain!"

And the pressure kept on building.

"Explain, you bastard!"

And building.

"Explain, Uchiha fucking Sasuke!"

And then Sasuke snapped.

Using his taller frame to his advantage, Sasuke roughly grabbed Naruto by his shirt neck line and lifted the shorter boy a couple of inches off the ground. This caused Naruto to lose his hold on the young Uchiha. "I don't understand what you're getting so upset for, dumbass! I wasn't the one who made a pig sty out of that shop! Suigetsu did!" Sasuke's tightened his grip.

"Also, everything I said that day was true, wasn't it?! You're a school drop-out, you're poor!" Sasuke let out a sarcastic snort. "Ashamed? You should be." Using any of his rapidly dwindling strength, Sasuke unceremoniously pushed Naruto away, effectively letting the blond stagger on his feet.

Sasuke probably never should have said any of the things he did. It was flat-out cruel of him. If you'd asked him at a later time why he had done it, he would reason that it was an instance of momentary possession. It was partially true.

Sasuke blinked in surprise. It was apparent in his black irises that reason had returned to his mind. "I don't... I'm not... I didn't mean it, Naruto."

"No. It's true." The voice was lifeless; lifeless like the boy's blue eyes.

"Naruto, I was just running my mouth. I wasn't thinking. I don't know what got over me." The young Uchiha was spewing out excuses in rapid succession. A litany of I was stupid, I'm tired, I haven't slept in days, I wasn't this, wasn't that, didn't, couldn't, shouldn't, and Oh God, Please, _please_ listen to what I have to say.

"Stop."

And Sasuke stopped. He had said every excuse, spoke a series of words in hopes that Naruto would forgive him, but never said the most important one of all.

"Naruto, I'm..."

_Sorry._

"Shush! I told you to stop." And both were silent for what felt like an eternity to the young Uchiha. The cold summer breeze kept the two boys company. Crickets would chirp every once in a while but would halt their noise as the tension in the atmosphere was so palpable, so tangible that it in itself could cut anyone, anything that dared to intrude.

"Every word you said was true." The hurt in Naruto's voice made itself known. "I'm poor. I didn't finish school; explains why I'm such a dumbass. I'm essentially _worthless_, Sasuke." Sasuke winced at the familiar words.

"But I'm not ashamed. Never ashamed." Determined blue eyes locked on to Sasuke's black ones. "I'm not ashamed to say that I'm all those and more because they're true. They're all true; but I don't let them define me."

Sasuke could only listen to the shorter boy in front of him; listen to the boy reiterating the blatant truth of his condition. It didn't take a genius to know that Naruto wasn't going anywhere in life. There was nothing to read in between the lines; nothing to further interpret. Naruto was sealed to whatever fate he was in; and yet here he was, shrugging off the harsh truth like dust that settled on his shoulder.

"But you, Sasuke, I take pity on." The glint in Naruto's eyes glimmered mockingly. Somehow, Sasuke knew that whatever Naruto was going to say next would cut him.

"Let me take a guess. I bet I can sum up your 'fantastic' life in a few sentences. " Naruto turned his back towards his companion and walked a few paces away. He simultaneously held his guitar and plucked a few random chords. The young Uchiha braced himself because the boy in front of him, oh this boy, was so very good at guessing; uncannily good at it.

"I see a perfect family, both wealthy and influential. I see a strict father, a soft-spoken mother, and of course, how can I forget the perfect brother." Then gentle plucking turned to soft strumming.

"And then there's you. The youngest son who tries to emulate his brother in every way while deliberately making it seem that he isn't." Strum.

Naruto returned to plucking. "Their perfect youngest son; a Student Council official, probably even the president of the student government, athlete for some hot-shot sport, outstanding grades, I'm assuming a 4.0 GPA. Boy, I bet the girls are all over you." And he ended with another audible strum.

"The perfect son for a perfect family." Naruto's strumming gradually increased in volume. Unconsciously, Sasuke's muscles tensed congruently with Naruto's guitar.

"But I bet behind those charming smiles of yours, you're just about ready to rip your own head off."

_Strum._

"Because perfect little Sasuke isn't really all that perfect."

_Strum, strum._

"You try to be perfect. Try every single day for everyone to see, but when no one's looking, you're just about as perfectly imperfect as I am. And it simply _kills_ you that you're struggling to be Daddy's perfect boy."

_Strum, strum, strum, strum, strum_

The guitar noise was ringing in Sasuke's ear. How was it possible that an instrument could create such a horrid sound? It was deafening and it was grating on Sasuke's nerves. The incessant strumming was driving him mad. StrumStrumStrumStrumStrum it went and he couldn't take it anymore. Just before he could express his absolute aggravation...

"Tell me, did the drugs you bought earlier today make you feel any better?"

And the cacophony from the guitar strings ended with a loud twang. Naruto tsked in annoyance. It seemed that one of his strings broke.

All the blood drained from Sasuke's face making it, if even possible, paler than it already was. How? How did Naruto know? How could the boy read him so well? What's more, how did he know about the drugs?

Naruto securely placed his guitar on top of the garbage bin. "I guess I could say I commend you for your acting skills, Sasuke. You had me fooled; and I'm an excellent judge of character." The blond turned his head to reveal a bitter smirk placed upon his lips. However the expression was short-lived on Naruto's features. The smirk fell as he gazed upon Sasuke's horrified appearance. Being vindictive was definitely not his thing. "Don't make that face, Uchiha. It doesn't suit you.", he sighed. Black brows quirked in sheer perplexity, making the young Uchiha look like a starved puppy. Naruto let out an untimely chuckle. No. This wasn't the time for that.

"I assume you want to know how I know these things?" Naruto proceeded to look at his nails to appear casual. "I told you, didn't I? I'm just damn good at guessing. But what I think you really want to know is how I know about the drugs." Naruto stopped inspecting his nails and took a cigarette out of his pocket. As he put the unlit cigarette in his mouth, his other hand started to feel around his pockets. Then the boy was palming around his torso, obviously in search of something.

"God damn it. Hey, I know you have a lighter on you, what with you reeking of weed and all." And suddenly, the short boy was close to his person once more. Sasuke motionlessly stared at the outstretched hand probing for a lighter. A few seconds passed and their stances had not changed. Naruto's cigarette clad mouth twitched in displeasure. Another one, two, three seconds and the blond released an exasperated groan. "I saw you get drugs, okay? Happy? That's how I know. Plus I'm not so stupid to not know when someone's been smoking pot." Blue eyes directed themselves to Sasuke's right pocket. Much to Sasuke's great surprise, Naruto had stuck a hand in said pocket and snatched its contents. Naruto's lips twitched upwards as he looked at the items that were in his hands; a small rectangular silver lighter, and Sasuke's last hit. "Take my advice. You don't need this." Naruto threw the joint over one of the alley's fences. The boy then lit the cigarette in between his lips and returned Sasuke's lighter by personally putting it back in Sasuke's right-side pocket.

After taking a few slow puffs from his cigarette, Naruto spoke in solemn manner. "You know what upsets me more than the fact that you did nothing to help me that day, Sasuke? It's the fact that I trusted you." Naruto leaned against the nearest patch of fencing and watched the night sky. "It was stupid because, come on, who places their trust in someone they've only met less than a handful of times?" Sasuke couldn't help but mentally disagree. It wasn't stupid at all.

"But I did because you were different. Well, I thought you were different." The older teenager wanted so badly to interject. The Sasuke witnessed that day was not him, he wanted to shout; but he couldn't, shouldn't , because now was the time to listen.

"With you, I could make a fresh start. I felt that we could be friends." Blue eyes slightly shimmered resembling tiny stars. "My first _real _friend. A person who didn't only look for me when they needed money or needed something done; a person who didn't look down on me because of my current living state."

Then eyes of dimming starlight gazed upon eyes as black as the night. That single stare made Sasuke's knees weak. Naruto offered Sasuke a meek smile. "You were just ... you. And I'm disappointed because you showed me the person you choose to be in public in a snap of a finger." Naruto took a deep inhale of his hit of nicotine and exhaled a huge puff of smoke. The smoking teenager was done with his speech, now it was Sasuke's turn. Oh boy.

Recalling his unused voice, Sasuke began to explain. "For as long as I can remember, I was always told that I had to excel in whatever I did. My parents never explained why, just told me I had to." Unlike Naruto who had his guitar to occupy his hands, Sasuke had nothing. The young Uchiha stood awkwardly, not knowing what to do with himself. Instead, Sasuke settled with rubbing his neck.

"They never said that to Itachi though. I never questioned them because I looked up to Itachi. I wanted to be just like him. I wanted to be praised by my parents just like how they praised my brother." A bitter smile crept its way to Sasuke's face. "But through the years, he just kept on overachieving and I noticed that I couldn't keep up, no matter how much I tried. Years passed and before I knew it, I despised Itachi for being, well, you know." Sasuke removed his hand from his neck and shook his head. "You have no idea how many times my own father called me out because I was second-rate in comparison to Itachi."

Sasuke couldn't believe he was actually telling Naruto these things. Of course, the young Uchiha didn't mind, he at least owed the Uzumaki boy this much. "Every day, I try to be the perfect son my parents, my father wants. Please understand that I've been keeping up the act for years. Smile, stand up straight, act dignified, get good grades, join the clubs, date classy girls, associate with first-rate crowds; it's all I know, Naruto." Sasuke shoved his hands in his pockets and looked to see Naruto's features. The boy was intently listening. Good; otherwise if he wasn't; everything he had to say from here on out would all be for naught.

"That day at the convenience store, it was an impulse; but believe me when I say I never meant to do it. I know I hurt you and I can't justify what I did, but please just understand that I didn't know what else to do." Sasuke stepped closer to the blond-haired boy in his presence. The Uchiha's black eyes were overflowing with his restrained emotions.

"I pretend to be something I'm not. I act like I'm the best thing this town has to offer; but look at me! I'm slowly losing my mind! For God's sake, I'm even getting in to drugs." Sasuke's shoulders began to shake. The stress this confession was bringing about was not doing wonders for the teenager. "But what I hate most of all is having to admit it. I hate that I'm far from what I want to be and I can't accept myself for it." A pale hand covered his handsome face in shame. The raven-haired teenager started to breath heavily. "How can I expect others to accept my flaws when I can't even admit them to myself?"

Sasuke took a couple of moments to compose himself. He shouldn't be losing his cool now when he still had so much to say to Naruto. The young man stopped his panting and forcefully relaxed his shoulders. Sasuke, again, gazed at the blond and mentally sniggered. It was obvious that Naruto was worrying about him again. His blond brows were furrowed and he sported a small frown on his tan face. Hn. Cute.

Sasuke took another step to close the last remaining distance between himself and the blond. "And then you came along." He tenderly gripped the hem of Naruto's black shirt."A guy who's had it bad in life, but acts as if it's nothing to cry about. Hell, you flat-out told a total stranger that you quit school as if you were just talking about the weather. You're totally comfortable with yourself and it baffled me." Sasuke could feel the steady thud-thud-thud of his heart. And as he looked upon blue eyes he couldn't help but wonder, Naruto, what are you doing to me?

"One time, I slipped and accidentally implied that my life wasn't all peaches and cherries, and you couldn't care any less. Then I told you I was an Uchiha, and you just laughed at me. You didn't kiss my ass or anything. You're the first person I've ever met that didn't see everything in face value." Sasuke's free hand moved to brush along Naruto's tan arm.

"You're _real _and since the first day we met, I find myself thinking and thinking more about you as each day passes." Thud-thud-thud, the beat continued.

"You're different and I can't get over that fact. That's why I was glad when you said you trust - trusted - me because I felt the exact same way; so don't feel stupid for doing so." The young Uchiha felt slightly disheartened at the fact that he had to correct himself. Naruto didn't trust him anymore, did he? But the young man was determined to regain that lost trust. "I swear to you, that person - the perfect little Uchiha - you saw in the convenience store wasn't me. I couldn't admit it before but I can now." Both failed to notice how both their noses were inches apart.

"I have a lot of issues and I'll work on them, because I have someone else to look up to now. It's you. And I'll do everything in my power to make it up to you, Naruto." Just a little bit more and Sasuke could ... could what?

Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud.

Blue eyes, for a split second, locked on to Sasuke's pink lips. If the young Uchiha had blinked, he would have missed it. Unconsciously, Sasuke began to lean in. Almost. Almost there...

But Naruto pulled away, creating another gap between them. "I don't know, Sasuke. You could win an Academy Award if you wanted. How do I know you're not just pulling my strings." Naruto threw his cigarette to the ground and stomped on it.

"I swear I'm not lying to you, Naruto. I promise as an Uchiha and as a man, I'll make it up to you." Naruto said nothing and only peered at Sasuke with lowered lids. The boy wasn't buying it. Plan B.

"Hey, let me take you out tomorrow." Sasuke made use of his honed Uchiha charms and shot Naruto a beautiful smile. He doubted his smile could match Naruto's but it was worth a try.

Naruto, who wanted to go for a more callous look, ended up pouting. "Are you asking me out on a date? If you are, I'm saying no."

Cue in haughty smirk. "Aw , come on. Go out with me, blockhead."

Big mistake in Sasuke's part.

"Don't get familiar with me just yet, Uchiha. I haven't forgiven you for your misconduct." Naruto snarled. Sasuke flinched and shrunk at the words. It was enough to thwart Sasuke's attempt at playful banter.

Fixing his bearing, Sasuke cleared his throat. The boy started over. "Let me take you out tomorrow. Just so I can patch things up between us."

Naruto looked Sasuke over suspiciously. "Do whatever you please, Sasuke. But that doesn't mean I agree to going with you tomorrow. I might just make myself scarce like I have for the past few days." The blond wasn't budging. In a moment of pure brilliance, Sasuke remembered why he had been searching constantly for Naruto for the past few days. With a deep breath, Sasuke prepared himself.

"Look, Naruto." A single blond brow arched upwards as if to show doubt. "I just want to apolo-"

The shrill ring of his phone startled both alley occupants. Sasuke mentally drawled out a long curse. Why now? When he was just about to ask, even beg for Naruto's divine forgiveness. Sasuke took out his phone from his back pocket and looked at the screen to identify the caller. Sasuke glared at the screen. Fucking Itachi.

"It's Itachi. I have to take this -"

"Sasuke, what were you about to say?" Sasuke visibly tensed his shoulders.

"Sasuke, answer me." The young Uchiha couldn't because whatever courage he mustered for his apology was swiftly flittering away with every ring of his phone.

"I have to take this call." And he did.

Sasuke ignored the way Naruto groaned and flung his arms in exasperation.

"I was in the middle of something, Itachi. What is it you need?" The younger Uchiha inquired through clenched teeth. His brother had the worst timing.

"I'll make this quick, little brother, so listen. Father just announced that he was just about to end his meeting. He also asked me where you were. I managed to cover for you and said you had gone to sleep; but that won't stop him from noticing how your car is missing from its designated parking. If you don't get back here soon, you won't hear the end of it." And click. His older brother had hung up on him.

"You have to go, huh?" Naruto was leaning against the large bin. He appeared to be displeased.

"Yeah." Sasuke answered.

"Well, go on then."

"Okay." Sasuke bit his inner cheek. Okay? That's all he could say? Okay?

"Uhm. So tomorrow?" And now he was stammering too? Oh, Sasuke. If your father could see you now.

Naruto had shrugged and climbed the large bin. He took his guitar and resumed to play the instrument, despite its one broken string. Sasuke turned and made his way to his car. Naruto turned him down. That didn't mean it would stop him from trying to gain Naruto's trust, but the rejection, in itself, was painful.

Sasuke unlocked his car and opened the door; but then he halted all movement. What was he doing? He was being stupid. He was being incredibly idiotic. He immediately shut his door with a loud bang and jogged back up to the alley. Sasuke took a deep breath, and once Naruto's shorter frame was within his seeing range, he shouted.

"NARUTO, I'M SORRY!" The blond had on his face a very familiar deer-in-headlights look.

"I'm sorry." Sasuke repeated and, slowly, Naruto's expression softened. The blond shook his head in disbelief (mind you, Sasuke's heart skipped a beat because of that), after which, he offered Sasuke a small smile. "Go home, Sasuke. You need to rest up. I won't make it easy for you tomorrow."

Sasuke beamed at Naruto's response. That night, Sasuke made a promise not to Naruto but to himself. As Sasuke zoomed past houses and streets, only one thought raced across his mind.

As long as I can help it, I refuse to hurt him again.


	8. Chapter 6

**A/N: **Hello! Chapter 6 is here! :D again, still not beta-read. :( I think it would be safe to assume that every chapter from here on out will not be beta-read. Oh woe is me.

If somewhere in this chapter or in the story, you see a temperature reading, it's in Celsius. (40 = 100-ish)

I'd just like to inform you guys that updates may take longer than usual. I filled up my sched so I have limited writing time. Also, I find myself lacking enthusiasm these past few days. :( A few weeks ago, my family couldn't even pull my away from my laptop. Now, I'm just ... meh; although, I'd like to say thank you to all those who reviewed for Fast Car! They all made me smile. I sincerely thank you! :D

I have a question (since I am still such a big noob), what happens if I don't moderate reviews? Because I seriously don't know what I'm doing. Ahehe. If you guys can enlighten me, that would be awesome.

So yeah, once again, here is chapter 6. It's got a filler chapter vibe to it. hehe. I don't hold any grudges against Ino or Sakura. They're pretty okay characters for me. Not my favorite though. They're tolerable; so please don't misunderstand my bad-mouthing them in the story (Nice guy smile). Please do let me know how I'm doing, my dear readers. Because li'l ol' Olie doesn't have someone to proofread (my love for yaoi has been a well kept secret from my family for years. They're conservative people), I can only rely on you guys. Tell me if you're liking it so far, if it lacks something, the works. Please and Thank You! :)

***DISCLAIMER APPLIES***

* * *

**Chapter 6**

To say that Sasuke was nervous was a complete and utter understatement. He was just about ready to piss his trousers. Hilariously though, he could only express his disconcert with the furrowing of his brows, combined with a childish pout. Ahh, such is the Uchiha; cannot portray emotions like a normal person.

His apology to Naruto the previous night took away a huge weight off his chest, so he raced back to Uchiha property with the most elated feeling. Thankfully, he was able to arrive back to his house before his father noticed he was gone. He owed Itachi for that one. Sasuke wasn't too sure if he liked that idea or not.

He was actually able to get a good night's rest (Thank the Lord). Although he felt quite panicky just before falling asleep, his physical exhaustion helped conk him out to the next morning.

Presently, Uchiha Sasuke was - as in the previous few days - driving around the slums in search of Naruto. That blond idiot followed through and actually went ahead and made things difficult for the young Uchiha. He was seriously starting to think this would be a ritual between him and Naruto from now on.

Sasuke drummed his fingers against his steering wheel as he waited for an intersection streetlight to turn green. Although seemingly calm, he was actually quite fidgety as of the moment. Sasuke could not mess up today. This statement needed to be reiterated to emphasize its importance.

Sasuke could NOT mess up today.

With this in mind, the raven-haired gentleman actually bought a box of chocolates and a bouquet of yellow roses prior to looking for Naruto. Interestingly enough, the yellow roses that caught Sasuke's attention had red tints on the tips which caused a few spots of orange on the petals here and there. The triad of colors present on the bouquet he chose reminded him greatly of the blond so he bought it for Naruto without second guessing. Curiously, as he asked one of the Yamanaka's flower shop employees to wrap up his chosen items, Ino chanced upon him.

"Interesting choice, Sasuke. So who's the lucky girl?" she had said. She looked overly thrilled; probably thought the gifts were for her. Women had a great tendency to assume and lead themselves on.

"A friend." He nonchalantly answered back. Sasuke didn't really want to deal with his admirers right now.

Ino arched one of her manicured yellow brows in a teasing fashion. "A friend, huh? This must be some friend if you're going with that rose color, stud." She reached for Sasuke's torso and gently caressed his chest with her finger. The girl blatantly raked lustful eyes over Sasuke's form. She even had the gall to lick her lips at the outfit Sasuke adorned. Jeans that weren't too tight or too loose and a red-collared shirt. Hardly anything spectacular but Sasuke always did look gorgeous in anything. This whole situation was starting to grate on the young Uchiha's nerves. Just before he could reject the Yamanaka girl, the employee (Oh, Thank God!) handed Sasuke the box of chocolates wrapped in elegant paper, and the bouquet that was daintily arranged.

"Thank you for your patronage, sir." The employee said in a sing-song way. The girl was trying to charm him as well while being discreet about it. Ino, the girl's boss' daughter, was here hitting on Sasuke after all. She doubted Ino would appreciate another trying to claim the handsome boy. The girl would lose her job in a heartbeat.

Sasuke sighed and instantly took his purchases. As he left the flower shop's premises, Ino shouted for him to call her soon. Ino was delusional.

Currently, the chocolates and the flowers were delicately placed on the car's passenger seat. Sasuke gazed at his gifts with a soft look. Yellow with red-tipped roses, huh? It was obvious Yamanaka was implying something about his choice of flowers but he shrugged it off. The girl was just probably desperate to make conversation with him anyway. Sasuke checked the stoplight once more. Holy hell! Why was the damn light still red?! Was the traffic light giving him a hard time as well? Sasuke had to wonder. As if reading his thoughts, the light changed to green.

After a couple of blocks, Sasuke arrived at what could be considered the residential area in this part of town when he noticed Naruto leisurely walking on the sidewalk. The blond was wearing his orange jacket again over a white t-shirt. No surprise there. He was also wearing a pair of loose-fitting black sweats. The raven-haired Uchiha whooped inside his car. Maybe the gods were in his favour today. Sasuke then proceeded to honk his horn to catch the blonds' attention.

Naruto slightly jumped at the noise and snapped his attention to the car's general area. Sasuke couldn't help but smile at Naruto once the latter recognized the black car and its driver. Despite Sasuke's cheerful demeanour, Naruto responded by crossing his arms and pouting at the Uchiha. Again, Sasuke thought the mannerism was cute but he knew Naruto hadn't done it to appear so. It was to show Sasuke that the blond-haired boy hadn't completely forgiven him yet.

Sasuke pulled over on the opposite sidewalk and gently took hold of his peace offerings. As he was crossing the street, he noticed the way Naruto's face was scrunched up in confusion. The boy was intently looking at the items in Sasuke's hands.

"Hey." Sasuke shyly greeted.

Naruto took his attention away from the gifts and surly looked at Sasuke's face. "Are those for me?"

"Uh, yeah." And a sudden blush appeared on Sasuke's pale face. It was by this time that Sasuke reprimanded himself for acting like a shy schoolgirl. Be a man!, he mentally shouted as he simultaneously bit his inner cheek.

With a deliberate cough, Sasuke tried to recover. "These are for you. They're my peace offering." He then tried to hand over the box of chocolates and the bouquet to Naruto.

Naruto scrutinized the objects in Sasuke's hand; his blue eyes locked on to the flowers. Sasuke noticed how Naruto's lip twitched in amusement for a split second. Why was everyone paying attention to the flowers? Did no one like chocolates anymore? Granted, Naruto didn't know they were chocolates yet, but still. Sasuke assumed people found opening up wrapped packages was far more exciting than flowers.

"Thanks but no thanks. I'm not a girl, Sasuke. I won't be swayed with flowers."

Sasuke then held the box of chocolates to eye level. "But what about-"

"Nor will I be swayed with chocolates." Damn Naruto and his uncanny guessing skills. So much for Sasuke's arsenal. Now, he had nothing to offer Naruto. Sasuke slouched in defeat.

"So was that it?" Naruto was pouting again. "Don't get me wrong. I appreciate the effort but I had assumed you would have tried harder."

"Well, the chocolates I got are truffles." A pathetic attempt at a save on Sasuke's part.

Naruto unconsciously twitched his left eye. "I have work in an hour and a half so I'm just gonna go home and take a power nap. Bye, Sasuke."

"No, wait!" If Sasuke wanted to have Naruto's forgiveness, he had better think up a way to get the blonds' and attention, and fast.

"Let's go to the park. I just want to spend time with you." That was completely pulled out of Sasuke's bum.

Naruto didn't look convinced enough so Sasuke decided to add "You can ride shotgun and I can drive us there." That took Naruto's interest.

"Okay." And just like that, Naruto agreed. Sasuke internally sniggered at the blond who was struggling to contain his excitement. Naruto was such a total dude. Boys and their toys, Sasuke guessed.

The journey to the park was less than a five-minute drive; barely enough time for Naruto to ooh and aah at the car. This was the exact same park Suigetsu and Sasuke were last Sunday prior to The Disaster.

"Naruto, please just take the flowers and the chocolate. I really want you to have them." Sasuke pleaded as he parked the sleek vehicle.

"Fine.", Naruto sighed. "Thanks, Sasuke. The flowers are beautiful." The blond offered Sasuke a half-smile; not the beautiful smile Sasuke had grew to love.

Both teenagers were taking a stroll towards one of the park benches when Naruto releases a short giggle.

"What is it?" Sasuke smiled. At least Naruto was warming up to him again.

"Nothing important. It just feels like you're courting me or something." Now, Naruto was openly giggling. Every second Naruto expressed his glee, the red in Sasuke's cheeks intensified. Naruto was teasing him. The young Uchiha couldn't utter a proper comeback so he went with the next best option.

"Hn."

"Good one, Sasuke. That completely burned me." Naruto smirked as he took his seat on a park bench. Sasuke, being the awkward person that he was, simply stood in front of Naruto's relaxed form. The older teenager caught little hints of humour on the blonds' tan face, noting how little beads of sweat were forming on Naruto's forehead. Naruto was waiting for him to start the conversation. The older teenager shoved his hands in his pockets as he wracked his brain for an icebreaker. Think, think, think.

"You're hot." Insert one massive facepalm here. The look on Naruto's face was priceless. In the next second, the younger boy snorted (obviously trying to contain his laughter) and covered his grin with his palm. Oh, Sasuke was definitely, truly embarrassed now.

"Uhh. That came out totally wrong." Sasuke covered his head to hide his red face; although, it was all in vain as his neck and ears were both actually tinted the same shade of crimson. The brilliant youngest son of Uchiha Fugaku managed to humiliate himself thrice in one day. "What I meant to say was you must be hot. I mean you're wearing a jacket over your shirt and you're wearing sweatpants. Plus it's summer and it's high noon. It must be forty degrees inside your clothes and... and ... and ..." Naruto released a soft chuckle and smiled at the flustered teenager.

"And I'm running my mouth and making a complete fool of myself, aren't I?" Sasuke sighed.

"Pretty much." Naruto grinned while Sasuke took a seat next to the former.

"I suck at this." Groaned the young Uchiha as he buried his head in both his hands.

"Yeah. You do." Naruto leaned his head against his palm appearing amused. "Makes me wonder how you're so popular with the girls. If this is what you consider a date, I wouldn't go out with you a second time." Sasuke could only whimper at Naruto's statement. Sasuke - 0; Naruto - 4

"Look, I'm gonna head off to work. I could probably sleep in the shop before my shift starts." But Naruto's motion was hindered as Sasuke suddenly held the younger teen's hand.

"Please stay. I'll do better." Black eyes pleaded.

Naruto checked his watch. They had just over an hour left. Boy, was this apology date rushed or what?

"I know I said I was sorry last night but I'm fully aware that you haven't wholly forgiven me yet so you can stop acting like we're okay now." Sasuke continued to hold Naruto's slightly smaller hand, lightly squeezing it every so often. Naruto tensed his shoulders. So the young Uchiha saw through his act. Well, to be honest, Naruto wasn't entirely pretending they were buddies again. Frankly, his interaction with Sasuke for the past twenty-or-so minutes was overall quite comical. He just exaggerated a few of his smiles so Sasuke would think the blond had forgiven him and Naruto could be on his merry way.

"I underestimated you, Sasuke. To think you saw that one. I'm impressed." Naruto rested his elbows on his knees as he looked forward, directing his attention to a particular group of kids rolling around on the grass.

"I knew because I'm obsessed with your smile. Well, the real one anyways." Oh, that had Naruto blushing like crazy. He didn't expect that one coming. No sir, he did not. Now to tally up the scores: Sasuke - 1; Naruto - 4.

"So far, I've yet to see you smile the same way you did before... yeah." Before I screwed up, Sasuke wanted to say. Naruto nodded in understanding. The silence that followed was welcomed as both boys needed to collect their thoughts for a moment. The resounding laughter that the close by children provided served as a pleasant filler for the boys' lack of conversation.

"You know, my family wasn't always so uptight. I know we were normal once." Naruto quirked his eyebrows at the older teenager. He had to wonder where Sasuke was going with this.

"I don't really remember all that much. Mostly just blurs. I was too young for the memories to really stick. I also used to look at our photo albums and we all looked happy. Really happy." Sasuke softened his features as he recounted his fond moments from his earlier years. "We lived in the city then. We weren't rich but we were definitely comfortable." But then Sasuke's eyes dimmed. "And then we just up and left . Everything changed after that."

"Why? What happened?" Naruto responded by equally squeezing Sasuke's hand.

"I don't know. All I remember is my father just took us and we all ended up here. My father never spoke of the reason." This was all very puzzling to Naruto. Why was Sasuke telling him this? What was he playing at?

"Once we got here, my father built a name for himself by starting a string of businesses. Suddenly, we were the 'it' family." Sasuke bit his lip in consternation. "Suddenly, I needed to be like Itachi because he was always the genius. He was someone my father could present to his rich friends, so I had to be the same. And as you know, I pushed myself to the point of having a mini meltdown." Naruto started firing a series of explanations in his head as to why Sasuke was revealing his family woes. Wasn't Sasuke so adamant to show that side of his life before?

"My mother likes to - as my father would say - 'baby' me." The grin on Sasuke's face was painful to see. It was so incredibly pitiful that Naruto had to shift his gaze away from Sasuke. Imagine; penniless little Naruto feeling sorry for the handsome rich boy. "She always has for as long as I can remember. But then my father decided it was unbecoming for my mother to treat me like a child. Now, every time my father is around, she acts coldly towards me." Sasuke removed his hand from Naruto's to brush his fringe in an exasperated fashion. Naruto refocused his stare on to Sasuke's face. The blond didn't notice it before (chalking it up to his being upset at the older teen) but Sasuke had changed his hairstyle. The raven-haired youth kept the bangs he had combed over before meeting up with Suigetsu last Sunday. Guilt struck Naruto as he surveyed the Uchiha's face. Here Sasuke was laying his heart out to Naruto and the blond was checking his hair out. Shame on him.

Wait.

Laying his heart out?

Naruto blue eyes widened when an interestingly plausible idea came in to his mind as to why Sasuke was revealing all these things. It was a good possibility but Naruto had to make sure.

"Thankfully, she didn't stop babying me altogether. She just does it when we're both alone. It's unnerving how I should still be cautious even in my own house." Naruto snapped out of his reverie as Sasuke continued to speak.

"I'm stupefied at the fact that you actually were able to accurately deduce the things going on with my life, Naruto." Sasuke gave Naruto a friendly smile. It was evident the older youth was still bothered from confirming his familial problems in public. It was with that observation that Naruto finally fully understood as to why Sasuke did what he did despite the young Uchiha's apparent discomfort. Naruto couldn't stop the ear-splitting grin that appeared on his whiskered tan face. Sasuke improperly let his mouth hang open as he sat awestruck at Naruto's offered smile.

This was Sasuke's own way of apologizing.

He trusted Naruto enough to personally reveal the flaws in his life. The young Uchiha was even out in public with him in broad daylight. Sasuke was purposefully baring himself to the blond. Consequently, he had given Naruto the power to make or break him.

"Well, that was one heck of an apology, huh, Sasuke?" Naruto shook his head in absolute mirth over Sasuke's confession. This only led to Sasuke opening his mouth a little wider than it originally was.

Naruto softly chuckled as he gently held Sasuke's chin. "An Uchiha shouldn't leave his mouth wide open, ducky. It looks very unflattering." Naruto then pushed Sasuke's mouth closed. This only caused Sasuke to widen his eyes.

He said 'ducky'.

Naruto was calling him 'ducky' again.

Oh God! Happy days!

Sasuke decided he would never sneer, scoff or get annoyed at that nickname ever again.

Regaining his inner composure, Sasuke decided to make his apology official. "I really am sorry, Naruto." With a deep breath, Sasuke awaited for Naruto's verdict. The young Uchiha wanted to be sure; and with a nod of Naruto's head, Sasuke exhaled in great relief.

"Much as I'd like to stay here and chat, ducky, I have work and I'd really like to get in a few minutes of rest before my shift." Naruto beamed at the way Sasuke pouted at the announcement of his impending departure. "Hey, don't look like that. We'll just continue this date later." Sasuke furrowed his brows after Naruto gave him a genial wink.

"Later?" Sasuke was confused.

"It's Thursday today, Sasuke. From my own personal observation, you throw away your garbage every Thursday." And try as he might, Sasuke couldn't stop the utmost joy from spreading across his features.

"I'll see you later at our spot, Sasuke." And with a wave of his hand, Naruto took the presents and jogged towards the convenience store he was employed at.

_Our _spot, huh? Sasuke decided he rather liked that notion.

llllllllllllllllllll

Sasuke went back to Uchiha property to pass the time. He was absolutely in cloud nine as of that moment and no one could possibly ruin it for him.

"Where have you been, Sasuke?" Except maybe his father.

"Just out with a few of my friends, father." Sasuke prayed his father would let the whole affair slide. He did not feel like moping today, especially since Naruto had forgiven him within the day.

"I noticed you've been going out frequently these past few days." Fugaku fixed a stern expression towards Sasuke. The man was trying to make his son fess up; but Sasuke stood his ground. Nope. Not today. Sasuke would not let his father bully him today.

"Don't make a habit of this, Sasuke." Fugaku then made his way to what appeared to be the study. Sasuke let out an audible exhale. He was safe. For now.

The youngest Uchiha entered his room and flopped down on his bed. Since there was nothing else better to do, Sasuke decided to take a nap. Unfortunately, just before he could fall in to a light slumber, his phone started to ring. Lo and behold, Suigetsu was calling him. Sasuke gnashed his teeth in irritation. Was everyone out to ruin his pleasant day?

"Oh, fuck it." And with a press of a button, Sasuke directed Suigetsu to voice mail. He would text Suigetsu for an explanation later. Right now, he just wanted to bask in his euphoria. In a matter of minutes, Sasuke was deeply slumbering in his room.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four hours.

What was initially planned to be nap, ended up taking a few more hours longer than expected. By the time Sasuke woke up, it was already in the late afternoon. Dinner would be served in two hours, Sasuke approximated.

After splashing his face with cold water, Sasuke proceeded downstairs. He found his mother casually sitting on one of the receiving room armchairs. The afternoon sun bathed her with an orange glow. Uchiha Mikoto truly was a beauty to behold.

"Sasuke, come here." She called for her son with a lovely expression on her face.

"Yes, mom?" Sasuke approached her with shifty eyes. He had to confirm whether they were alone. Seeing as no one was near their general location as of the moment, Sasuke sat on the opposite side of his mother's position.

"Who is she?" Mikoto certainly was a straightforward woman.

"I'm sorry?" Sasuke, in all honesty, did not understand what his mother had just asked him.

"Oh, don't be coy, Sasuke. Who's the girl you've been seeing?" His mother was now getting all starry-eyed. Ahh, yes. Mikoto always did like to know of her sons' lovelives.

"I'm not following, mom."

"You've been out of the house constantly for the past few days, son. So I want to know who it is you've been seeing." Mikoto leaned in showing her outright interest in the subject. She thought he was dating someone?, Sasuke's eye twitched at the visual.

"I'm not dating anyone." Sasuke clarified. It was true anyways.

"Oh, pish posh! I've never seen you this way before, Sasuke. You've been alternating between vacant and frantic the last few days. Whoever it is, she must be very special to you." And this was the exact time Sasuke's body felt the need to blush. This certainly made Mikoto beam at her son.

"I knew it! So who is she?" Sasuke hit his forehead at his mother's antics. She was acting like a high school girl.

"I'm not seeing anyone, mother. Just drop it, please." Sasuke begged.

"Hmph. Fine. I'll get it out of you eventually." The mischief in Mikoto's black eyes shone with great visibility.

"Sasuke, in any case, I still want to give you this." His mother's giddy demeanour changed to a more serious character. "It's quite obvious that you're greatly interested in someone as of late, and I just wanted to let you have this." She slowly approached Sasuke and opened her hand to reveal a silver necklace with an elongated pentagonal jewel as its focal piece. Its turquoise hue shimmered magnificently under the orange sun's light from their window.

"Your father gave this to me when I agreed to be his girlfriend years ago. I want you to have it." She opened Sasuke's hand and slid the necklace to his awaiting palm. "Someday, you'll meet someone you're sure you'd like to spend the rest of your life with. Give this to her when that time comes; but until then, I want you to wear it." Sasuke sat speechless as he gazed on the jewelry in his possession. Mikoto kissed her son's forehead, whispered an 'I love you' and left Sasuke to his musings.

llllllllllllllllllll

Had anyone seen the family having dinner that night, anyone would have sniggered. Sasuke wolfed down his meal. Perhaps 'wolfed down' wasn't the correct term to use. He ate considerably faster than everyone else which was, of course, improper by Uchiha standards.

The look Fugaku sported on in the duration of their dinner was, by far, the most laughable amongst the Uchihas. Imagine a fish out of water; that, only ten times worse. Itachi, on the other hand, arched a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at his brother; whilst Mikoto, as expected, sat amusedly looking at her son.

"You might want to slow down, little brother. We don't want you choking on your own food and missing your date." Itachi smirked and took a sip from his glass of water.

Sasuke nearly spit his food out. What the fuck did Itachi just say?!

"Son, swallow your food." Mikoto tittered at her son. Sasuke did as he was told and gulped his food down. He glanced at his father to detect any hint of disapproval on Fugaku's older visage. The youngest Uchiha was toying his newly acquired necklace in unconscious agitation.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Sasuke took his last bite from his plate. "If you'll excuse me, I'd like to go about my chore now."

"Of course, dear. Go ahead." At least his mother was on his side.

"Hn." Although his father didn't look to pleased.

"Please excuse me, father." Sasuke asked for his father's permission lest he be scolded later in the night.

"Very well. You are excused from this table, Sasuke." Fugaku squinted at Sasuke in suspicion but returned to his meal seconds later. Phew.

"Have fun, little brother." And there it was; the signal for his departure.

As he trekked to his car with garbage bags in hand, he couldn't help but feel thrilled. Oh, he would definitely enjoy himself. That much, he knew.

llllllllllllllllllll

The alley was empty.

. . . . .

It was empty.

Why was it empty?

Sasuke felt like a lost pup. The only thing keeping him company was the large garbage bin and the insects that came out at night.

Where was Naruto?

Sigh.

He might as well do what he was originally supposed to do. Sasuke sluggishly walked back to his car to fetch the two black bags in his trunk. This was downright depressing. Uchiha Sasuke just got stood up. Oh, wouldn't his lady suitors love to hear about this.

Once Sasuke had properly disposed of their garbage, he heard restrained giggling near the maw of the alley. The young Uchiha quirked his pink lips in curiosity. Sasuke crouched low and positioned himself as near to the fence as possible. He quietly crept towards the alley corner and stopped to listen once he reached the last wooden fencing. There was another choked laughter from the person on the adjacent fence; that was all Sasuke needed to know who the mystery person was. Funny, how he recognized a lot of aspects about Naruto.

Sasuke reeled his body around the fence corner and casually leaned against the next sequence of fencing. There, he saw Naruto crouched low on the ground trying to contain his laughter. Sasuke rolled his eyes. Naruto really was such an airhead.

"I've been standing right next to you for the past couple of seconds. Can't believe you haven't noticed, blockhead." Naruto snapped his eyes open and halted his noises.

"Uhh. Hey." Slowly standing up, Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. "So I was just here...uhhh... I dropped a couple of pennies. I was looking for them?" Naruto ended his sentence (Hn. More like question) with an awkward laugh.

"Sure you were. And you weren't just about to try and take me by surprise." Sasuke crossed his arms in a gesture of self-satisfaction.

"How did you know?" Naruto looked creeped out. Geez. Like the blond moron wasn't a person short of being a psychic.

Sasuke rolled his eyes ... again. "I didn't. But thanks for admitting to it." The wink Sasuke sent to Naruto's way had made the blonds' poor old heart skip a beat. Unknowingly, Naruto let out a garble of random sounds from his mouth.

"Hn. How articulate, blockhead." The boy's tan face was so beet red that Sasuke internally cackled.

"Shut up, asshole."

"Sure thing, honey." Yup. Sasuke successfully confirmed that the red in Naruto's cheeks could still get deeper in color.

"Urgh!" With an aggravated stomp of his feet, Naruto embodied the look of a child whose candy was stolen.

Sasuke let out a carefree laugh; the first one in ages. The young Uchiha's hooting looked like it wasn't going to stop any time soon. Naruto backed down and relaxed himself. Soon, the blond was joining the older boy with his own round of chuckling. It was silly, really. They were laughing just for the heck of it. No reason whatsoever, and it was amazing.

Before long, both teenagers were panting from their bout of raucousness. Sasuke felt incredible. He felt weightless. He felt natural. He only had those feelings whenever he was with Naruto.

"That was so random." Naruto wiped a stray tear from his face. Sasuke hummed in agreement; and then the silence enveloped both boys in its embrace.

"Hey." Sasuke started. He just had the most brilliant idea.

"Hmm?"

"Let's go for a drive." Sasuke's black eyes twinkled under the early evening sky. Suddenly, his arm was being yanked towards the direction of his car.

"Let's go!" The melodious voice of Naruto echoed across the alley. Sasuke sighed in contentment. Unknown to the both of them, they had thought of the exact same thing at the exact same time.

Their real date had officially started.


	9. Chapter 7

**A/N:** Wheeeee~ Chapter 7! :D It actually came out faster than expected. O_O

I'd like to endorse another song if I could. I think this particular song deserves credit as it seemed to enflame my dwindling passion with writing this story. I used to listen to this song all the time and I guess I just forgot about it as the years passed. My brother randomly played this song in his car one day (we would always skip through it when it came on) and I got goosebumps because it fit so well with Fast Car. It totally inspired me to write chapter 7. So if you guys could, please do listen to "First of Summer" by Urbandub. I am so gonna indiscreetly (or discreetly. Whatever) integrate the lyrics to this story. Muahahahaha. I don't own the song "First of Summer" by the way. Disclaiming just to be on the safe side. ;D

Also, as you all know, Fast Car is not beta-read (As I don't have a beta-reader). There are still some minor errors in the story. I've decided that once I've finished this story, I'll start fixing up those little mistakes so I can edit it all in one go. For now, I'd like to apologize in advance for the story boo-boos. I'll definitely rectify them all once I finish the story.

Please feel free to leave reviews. They always make my day. :)

***DISCLAIMER APPLIES***

* * *

**Chapter 7**

"I can't believe you actually bought me a guitar string. Not really something you buy someone on a date, but I've long accepted the fact that you're weird." Naruto patted the rolled up guitar string in his pocket.

"I'm weird? Who suggests a dubious-looking area for a date venue? You're probably planning on raping me and leaving me for dead. And in my defense, I got you a burger didn't I?"

"Shut up, bastard, and drive."

Sasuke outwardly proclaimed his triumph with a smug grin. "So are you really planning on raping me and leaving me for dead? Because if you are, I'm turning back right now."

"Oh no! You've foiled my plots to defile your virtue. Whatever shall I do now?" Naruto rolled his eyes but kept a genial look on his face. Sasuke kept his eyes on the road and released a silent single guffaw.

Currently, Sasuke was following a dirt path that Naruto had spotted while having their joyride around town. Not thirty minutes in to the ride, the blond passenger expressed his growing boredom at seeing houses, shops and streets. He then started to tease Sasuke about how the Uchiha lacked adventure in his life. If you call following a dark and deserted dirt path that led to God knows where adventure then Sasuke was definitely fine with being called 'a boring old sod'. At Sasuke's rejection of the idea, Naruto fluttered his eyes and leaned towards Sasuke's face. "Please, Sasuke.", the blond had purred in his ear. That had Sasuke nodding his head and swerving his car to get to the dirt path in a snap of a finger. "Too easy." Naruto had gloated as he leaned back in to his seat. "You'll pay for that. Just so you know." Sasuke had jibed. He wouldn't really; but he couldn't let Naruto think he was weak against the blonds' charms.

The path they followed led to the vast farm areas that bordered their town. Sasuke rolled the windows open to let the air in the vehicle. Opening said windows, in turn, let the deafening sounds of chirping crickets in, along with the night air.

"How fast can this car go?" The question didn't surprise Sasuke in the least. Naruto had been poking and probing at his car the moment they set foot in the vehicle.

"Pretty fast, I would assume. I haven't tried pushing it to its limits yet." Which was understandable since there really wasn't a proper place to rev up his engine. Besides, if he got caught by the authorities and his father got wind of the news, he was as good as dead. Silence from the blond greeted the young Uchiha. Strange. Usually Naruto had something to say unless, of course, Sasuke rebutted the boy with an unexpectedly embarrassing comment.

"Blockhead?" Sasuke briefly glanced at his passenger. What he saw was a look Naruto had never adorned in the older boy's presence before. The expression gave Sasuke goosebumps. If he thought Naruto had dull eyes before, he thought different now. The blond looked like he was in deep contemplation all the while having the saddest looking eyes Sasuke had ever seen. It was, overall, a heartwrenching sight.

"Naruto?"

No response. Sasuke was getting bothered so he tried a different approach.

"Honey?" He placed a smile on his face in an attempt to get Naruto's attention; but the smile ended up looking more awkward than pleasant due to the visible worry on Sasuke's features.

Still no response.

Okay.

Don't panic.

Naruto was probably just tired. He did have a work shift earlier that day. Or he could be getting bored; that thought made Sasuke slightly deflate. Maybe Naruto was still actually angry at him.

. . . .

Oh shit. That was it, wasn't it? Naruto was faking and was actually still angry at him and after this date they would go their separate ways and never see each other again because Naruto was damn good at covering his tracks and Naruto would forget about him and leave and the blond would go on with his life, breathe, breathe, breathe, don't panic, don't panic ...

_Don't panic!_

"Naruto!"

"Huh? Wha?" Naruto blinked in surprise at Sasuke's outburst. One look at Sasuke's pitiful appearance and Naruto knew he had caused the young Uchiha great distress. The blond tried to alleviate the situation by giving a light-hearted peal of laughter. Naruto shook his head as if to assure Sasuke that he was fine and that everything was alright.

"You know, ducky, you have such a nice car with a killer engine. Not speeding with this thing is the real crime here." Suddenly, Naruto looked straight in to Sasuke's eyes. The latter had to lightly step on the brakes when Naruto's gaze didn't let up. "We should high-tail it out of here and head somewhere else. Just drive me away. Take me away to somewhere far from this hellhole."

Sasuke didn't know how to respond to that. In some ways, what Naruto had suggested kind of made sense, kind of felt _right _(for lack of a more appropriate adjective); but a more rational part of his brain completely understood how the notion was exceedingly ludicrous. Of course, a rich boy would not understand. Would _never _understand.

Naruto violently shook his head. "Ignore me. I've got a few loose bolts in my head. Heh. I mean, seriously. Who would do that? That would be like asking for a slow death sentence or something." Slowly, the clarity in Naruto's eyes was resurfacing.

"Hn. Yeah." Sasuke tried to smile. He really did try, but he couldn't get himself to. There was something in the atmosphere that made him feel like he shouldn't be trying to smile at this particular moment.

"Hey, Sasuke. Where are we?" At Naruto's question, Sasuke attempted to determine their exact whereabouts. To the raven-haired teenager's dismay, he had no fucking idea where they were. Fortunately, the dirt path they were following led them in to a nearby hill that overlooked the town they both resided in. At least Sasuke had the town's visual; imagine his great panic had they totally lost sight of it.

"Who would have thought that that place would look so pretty at night?" Sasuke silently agreed at Naruto's comment. The little lights that the town residents gave off from their homes looked like a cluster of shining diamonds amongst a sea of black. Sasuke could only sneer at the picturesque scenery. It was superficial beauty. The Uchiha knew better.

"Hey. Pull over. I kind of want to chill here for a second." Naruto, Sasuke noticed, wore a more solemn expression. The blond saw it too. Trust Naruto to see through the false comfort the town exuded.

Sasuke pulled his car over near the hill's edge where they had a desirable view of the town. Before Sasuke could even shut his engine, Naruto unlocked the passenger side door and exited the vehicle. The blond made his way to the front of the car and casually sat against the hood. Sasuke followed suit and made himself comfortable beside the shorter boy.

"You're birthday is coming up soon, right?" Sasuke visibly looked surprised at the blonds' inquiry. It had absolutely slipped his mind that his own birthday was coming in a few days (what with him frantically looking for Naruto that past couple of days).

"Yeah. It's this Monday. You actually remembered?"

"Mhmm. Well, I saw your necklace and I thought maybe it was a birthday gift." Naruto delicately stroked the turquoise jewel on Sasuke's chest. "It's really beautiful, Sasuke."

"Thanks. My mom gave it to me today. It's not really a birthday gift. It's more like me having it for safe-keeping until I ..." Sasuke's eyes dilated at Naruto's profile. For the briefest of moments, the young Uchiha was at a loss for words. Naruto looked angelic with the town lights casting its shine on to the blonds' slender form. The familiar thud-thud-thud was happening again, and Sasuke, once more, forgot how to breathe.

Naruto noticed the pause in Sasuke's statement and quirked his eyebrow at his companion. The older boy gasped for air and continued with his previous line of thought. "Err. Sorry. Uhh. Until I decide to give it away to someone special."

"Huh. So your mom's got a bit of a romantic streak in her, eh?" Naruto crossed his arms and further relaxed his stance on to the car's hood.

"Hn. You could say that."

"You know, despite the things you've told me about your family, it must still be nice to come home to an _actual_ family. I mean, they're your family. In spite of their weird perfectionism, they still love you; and at the end of the day, you know you have a home to come back to." Naruto lightly bit his pink lips. Clearly, there was something distressing the younger boy. Understanding dawned in to Sasuke's black eyes. So he and Naruto had something in common...

"That's not a home, Naruto. It's simply a place I can eat and safely sleep in."

_Family Issues_

Naruto looked like he was about to rebut Sasuke's statement but the young Uchiha didn't give him a chance to. "Do you think I would have gotten in to drugs if it were otherwise?" The older teen challengingly asked his companion. Naruto had looked taken aback for a moment and shook his head. Sasuke had a point. For a person who strove for nothing less than perfection, getting in to narcotics would be the last thing on his mind. For Sasuke to actually consider taking drugs the first time, the young Uchiha must've been pushed way over his limits.

"I'm trying to get myself off the stuff by the way. I remember you saying how you hated people who got wasted. I know you meant wasted from alcohol, but I assumed drugs still fit the category." What Sasuke had said actually flattered the blond teenager. Sasuke was making a blatant effort to please Naruto and it made the latter considerably giddy.

" That's good. I'm really glad you are, ducky." Naruto gave Sasuke a small smile but quickly retracted it.

"What's the matter?" Nothing escaped the sharp eyes of Uchiha Sasuke. The raven-haired youth caught the wavering on Naruto's lips.

Naruto roughly gnawed on his lower lip as a gesture of hesitation. Truthfully speaking, he thought it was unfair that Sasuke had said so much about himself (despite the discomfort) while he had said so little. It wasn't just about Sasuke owing him anymore. It was a matter of trust now. Naruto mentally nodded his head in self-assurance. Naruto could trust Sasuke; and it was with that thought that Naruto decided to bare himself to the older boy.

"I think I was kind of being a hypocrite when I said I hated people who got wasted." Here goes nothing, Naruto inwardly commented as he dove right back in to the conversation.

"You were right to think that drugs applied to the 'being wasted' category. It's actually even worse than alcohol when it comes right down to it. And you know I loathe alcohol, Sasuke." Sasuke nodded his head in comprehension of the fact, but couldn't, for the life of him, understand where Naruto was taking their discussion. "You know, I don't only just work at the convenience store. I do little jobs here and there to make ends meet; but the work that pays the most is what I'm really ashamed to tell you. Would you still like to know? I might disappoint you."

Sasuke could only gulp and silently nod his head. Whatever Naruto had to say, he would take in stride. When it all boils down to it, he'd accept Naruto wholeheartedly.

"Heh. I was kind of hoping you would say no but, well, here I go." The shorter frame of Naruto tensed for a couple of seconds to take in a deep breath. "I'm here preaching about the evils of vices when in truth I get paid to personally deliver drugs to a lot of rich asses in the town." That's when it hit Sasuke; the day he had said his name to Naruto. He remembered the blond carrying a package that day.

"I sure as hell am not proud of what I do but it's an unfortunate necessity." The whole situation was ironic in Naruto's eyes. He despised how people would lose themselves to drugs or alcohol but here he was giving people the means to do so. It was sickening and he hated himself for it.

"You don't have to do this, Naruto." Sasuke reasoned but blond brows merely furrowed in confusion.

"What do you mean? I need to do this, Sasuke, or else we starve and slowly wither away." We? Who's _we_? Was it Naruto's family? Most likely not since the boy had expressed a clear desire to have a true family. So who was Naruto referring to? Sasuke momentarily wondered so he decided to probe a little.

"I mean you don't have to! You should be in school! You shouldn't even be worrying about making a proper living for yourself yet. Let alone make a proper living for whomever else." The reasoning made absolute sense. Naruto was seventeen years old. Still so young yet was already riddled with the complexities life had to offer.

"My dad is an alcoholic, Sasuke." The raven-haired youth felt his stomach drop. It was in that singular statement that he understood and he was absolutely speechless.

"It's because of that reason I have to step up and have a steady flow of income. It's also for that exact same reason why my mom left us and why I quit school." Sasuke decided it was best to keep silent for the moment. Naruto appeared to be near seething but made a valiant effort to keep his anger in check.

"My mom was an aspiring singer in the city then and she met my dad at one of the bars that hired her for gigs. Apparently, my mom's parents didn't like my dad so they decided to elope. They ended up here and had me a couple of years later." The silence of the night was deafening to Sasuke's ears. As if the universe knew the solemnity of this event and chose to give both teenagers this moment to seek comfort in each other.

"Life here was difficult for me and my parents. My dad became alcoholic so my mother left us. I'll never forget the night she did." Naruto gripped the hem of his shirt in the way children did when faced with adversity, because that was what Naruto was. He was still a child.

"I was thirteen then. Dad fell asleep on our ratty old couch and mom called for me from outside the house. I remember seeing a full moon that night and its light made my mother look beautiful. She smiled at me but I could tell she had been crying." Sasuke noticed the little tremors in Naruto's gripped hands. The bonds' blue eyes appeared glassy with unshed tears.

"She told me she was going away. Told me she had more places to see, people to meet. She wanted more from life and it was obvious my dad couldn't give that to her." Naruto's clenched palms continued to shake. Sasuke lightly placed a hand over one of Naruto's to appease some of the younger teen's grief; and it seemed to have worked.

"I remember how she lovingly cupped my face and placed kisses all over it. I didn't fully understand the implications of it all back then and I just got annoyed at her for it. Then she gave me her guitar. She told me to take good care of it. I asked her when she would be back." Sasuke's ear perked at the sound of Naruto's voice which had begun to shake by the end of his recounting.

"She never answered my question. _I love you._ That's all she said and she was gone." The corners of Naruto's eyes were wet with tears which refused to fall. Anger mixed with sorrow. The worst blend of emotion a person could ever experience.

"Dad was sad for a little while but I guess he just decided to damn my mother for leaving. I waited for her. I waited, and waited, and waited. She never came back. When I resigned myself to that fact, I quit school. It was clear that my dad had no plans on working to provide for us. He said he was too old to be working. I say it's a load of bullshit. He's too young to even be complaining about his body; but someone has to take care of him, so I stepped up. He's still my dad after all." Just from hearing about Naruto's father, Sasuke already had a passionate hatred for the man. He shouldn't even be considered a man. He was a deadbeat who couldn't take responsibility for his family.

"So there you go, ducky. I'm stuck here to make living for me and my oh-so wonderful father. I'm stuck here so I can pay for all the accumulated debts we owe. I'm stuck here and I know for a fact that I'm stuck here for the rest of my life." Sasuke felt queasy. Imagine, the young Uchiha had the gall to complain about his life when Naruto, who had it so much harder, was here still trying to make the most out of what he could.

"I'm sorry." It was all Sasuke could say.

"Don't be. It's not your fault my dad's a lazy bum." Naruto winked. It was amazing how the blond could keep an upbeat appearance despite his situation.

"No. I'm sorry for being selfish. I've been ranting about my woes without even stopping to think about what you might be dealing with. I'm sorry." That surprised Naruto, to say the least.

"Don't worry about it, Sasuke." Naruto leaned in towards Sasuke and lightly nuzzled the Uchiha's cheek with his tan button nose.

Thud-thud-thud-thud

"Hey, let's get out of here. All this drama is such a major date downer." Naruto had whispered in Sasuke's ear and abruptly left the older boy's side. Before Sasuke knew it, Naruto was seated on the passenger seat, ready to leave.

Taking one last look at the group of lights, Sasuke calmed his thudding heart and entered through the driver side door.

llllllllllllllllllll

"I think you should've taken a right turn there, bud." Naruto looked back to the four-way stop Sasuke just passed. "Yeah. I'm pretty sure town proper is that way, Sas."

"Hn."

" Sasuke... where are you going?" Naruto suspiciously glanced at Sasuke who looked to be in deep concentration.

"Hn." Ugh. Dealing with an Uchiha wasn't the most fun of activities according to Naruto's book.

"... Hey. You're not taking me to somewhere secluded so you can have your dirty way with me and leave me for dead, will you?" Naruto snickered at his own wit. Ha! He was able to use Sasuke's words against the raven-haired lad. Oh, the cleverness of Naruto.

"Oh, my dearest blockhead. You're so original." Just when Naruto thought he had one-upped the young Uchiha, he gets beat.

"Hmph. Shut up, stupid duck. Tell me where we're going already." Naruto flung himself on to Sasuke's shoulder. The car swayed at the brief loss of control.

"Don't do that, Naruto." A flash of panic appeared on Sasuke's face. He then resumed his normal facial expression; a guy who looked like he had a stick up his bum. Naruto simply gave the young Uchiha a hundred-watt smile. "Tell me where we're going, buttercup." Blond lashes fluttered. It would seem that the boys developed a new ritual between themselves. Name-calling was now part of the list.

Suddenly, a devious smirk started to develop on Sasuke's dashing face. "I thought you told me to shut up? I can't really do both now, can I, angel-face?" And there it was; the bright crimson on Naruto's cheeks. The blond shrunk on his seat to hide his embarrassment.

Unlike what most would assume, Sasuke wasn't informing his passenger of their destination just to tease the poor boy. He wanted to keep it as a surprise. Besides, Naruto would recognize where they were headed off to soon. The boy has lived here all his life. There was no doubt in Sasuke's mind that the younger teenager wouldn't know.

"Sasuke, this street leads to the old highway. What's going on?" See? Just as Sasuke predicted. The Uchiha decided he should probably enlighten the blond now. Wouldn't want to cause a fright, do we?

"I want to see how fast this car can go." True to his word, Sasuke added more pressure on the gas pedal. The rough air currents that entered the car whipped across both the teenagers' faces. To be perfectly cliché, it almost felt like they were flying.

"Hell yeah!" Naruto pressed the on switch for the car's audio system and cranked up the volume. Surprisingly (well, maybe not so much), Naruto leaned half of his body over the passenger side window, and started to whoop and laugh in his excitement.

The wind in his hair, the speed, the exhilaration, the sound of Naruto's voice; all these melded together in that singular moment was... No words could describe it.

Naruto was still laughing when he returned to his seat. His golden locks were windswept and made him even more attractive in Sasuke's eyes.

Hold up.

Attractive?

"Go faster, Sasuke!"

And that smile was on Naruto's face again. _The _smile.

Sasuke obliged Naruto's request and accelerated.

_Thud-Thud-Thud_

And as he increased his speed, the beat, in turn, intensified

_ThudThudThudThudThud_

Considering the speed they were going in, what Sasuke had done next was life-threateningly dangerous. He took his eyes off the road for a second to gaze at Naruto's eyes. In that one second, the breath was knocked right out of him.

The blue of Naruto's eyes were lightly shimmering.

...Maybe there was a word that could describe the feeling of this moment.

The blonds' laugh sounded like chiming bells caused by the wind. That smile. Those whiskered-cheeks. His tan face. His messy golden hair. Those blueeyes.

His entirety.

One word that could exactly capture this instance:

_Perfect._

llllllllllllllllllll

"I still can't believe you didn't get caught, Sas-duck." They were back within the town. The way back was a bittersweet affair. It served as a reminder that all good things must come to an end; but it also signified the start of a new beginning.

Naruto assumed Sasuke would just drop him off at the park or at the alley, but he was proven wrong when the raven-haired driver zoomed past the sketchy neighbourhoods and went straight to the town centre.

"You know, you gotta start telling me where we're going from now on. It's seriously creepy. It makes me fear for myself." Sasuke ignored Naruto's scolding. By the look on the younger teen's face, Sasuke doubted there was any bite to the remark. The blond' was openly gawking through the car windows.

"I've never been this far in to town centre before, ducky." Sadly, this fact was true. The snootier parts of town didn't like having vagabonds and riff-raff in their vicinity. In order to keep the district clear of street rats, the local police usually patrolled the area frequently and personally escorted any 'unsavory'individuals.

"I won't be able to find my way back from here, Sasuke." How cute. Naruto thought Sasuke would just let him off the street. Hn. Not a chance.

"I'm not letting you go back by yourself, blockhead. I'm taking you home. Think of this as a little side trip tour; an extension of our date, if you will." Naruto seemed to accept the young Uchiha's reason and the next few minutes was spent in silent appreciation of their surroundings.

Sasuke stopped his car, not bothering to turn off the engine, in front of an extravagant house. Naruto marvelled at the architecture and the way it stood out amongst all other residences in the neighbourhood.

A whistle came out from Naruto's lips. "Whoa." He said; because, really, what else was there to say. "You know the people who live here, ducky?"

"I would hope so. I was raised here." Naruto visibly jerked his body in shock. It was the famed Uchiha residence.

"I just thought I would show you where I lived. At least now, you know where my house is. You're welcome to visit any time." Sasuke's eyes softened at Naruto's flabbergasted face. This blond moron really was amusing, Sasuke snickered.

"I can't believe you actually came back to your house with me." The voice was soft and breathy. The disbelief was pouring out from Naruto's features.

"What do you mean?" The young Uchiha was baffled by Naruto's comment.

"I'm nobody, Sasuke. For you to take me here, hell, for you to park right outside your home at the risk of being seen with someone like me, that's a big deal." Naruto shyly looked away from Sasuke's stunned form. "I'm sorry for spazzing out like that. It's just... Well. You going out here with me, in general, is unbelievably overwhelming."

"Hn. I'd go anywhere with you, Naruto." Blue met black and the thud-thud-thudding returned; only this time, Sasuke had a feeling he wasn't the only one feeling its steady rhythm.

And, unconsciously, Sasuke began to lean towards Naruto. Like the blond had his own gravitational pull and the raven-haired youth had the utmost lack of power to fight it.

Maybe...

Just maybe...

The reason for his recurrent violently thudding heart was possibly because...

"Naruto, I think..."

Those soft pink lips were so close.

"I think I'm..."

So close he could almost taste them.

"Sasuke."

The breathy way his name was said sounded like heaven coming from those delectable lips.

"I think I'm falling..."

BEEEEEEEEEP!

If they could, the boys would have probably jumped a mile high at the loud noise. So lost was Sasuke in his own little world with Naruto, he accidentally lost his previous grip on the steering wheel and accidentally pressed the car horn. And with that shrill honk from the car, the intimate ambiance vanished in to thin air.

God damn fucking shit! Sasuke felt like murdering someone right about now.

"Ahehe. Well. Uhh. I should..uhm. I should probably go back home. I don't want to keep you out for too long. Sasuke, I really wouldn't mind going home alone. You don't have to take me back..." Before Naruto could even finish sentence, Sasuke interrupted him with a "No. I'll take you home, Naruto. I insist" That definitely settled things.

As the black vehicle resumed its motion, two curtains from different parts of the Uchiha household stirred in activity. Unfortunately for the two teenage boys, they had gotten unsolicited attention.

llllllllllllllllllll

"You can drop me off here, Sasuke."

Sauske was thankful that the awkwardness between them subsided in the duration of the car ride. The Uchiha didn't think he could handle Naruto pushing him away any time soon what with his recent ... 'epiphany'.

Sasuke jerked his head towards the run-down house they had parked right in front of. "Is this where you live?"

"Nope. But seriously, just drop me off here. I just live right at the corner." Naruto unlocked his door only for Sasuke to lock it once again.

"Why can't I just drop you off there? It's just right at the corner. You said so yourself." Sasuke twitched at Naruto's hand which was moving towards the door's locking mechanism.

"Sasuke, it's right at the corner. I can just walk there." Unlock.

"No. I'll take you." Lock.

"God damn it, ducky. Drop it." Unlock.

"Oh, I'll definitely drop something. I'll drop you off in front of your house, that's what!" Lock.

"Urgh!" Unlock.

Death glare. Lock.

"Shit, Sasuke! With the time we're taking arguing over this, I could've been home for the past few minutes now!" Unlock.

. . . More intense death glare. Lock.

The shamefully childish banter went on for a couple more minutes until one of them decided to give in.

"You're so childish! Fine! Turn right here and stop in front of the second house on the right." Naruto crossed his arms and pouted. Sasuke couldn't stop the smug grin erupting from his face.

"Wipe that smug smile off your face, you jerk."

"Don't be like that, honey." Sasuke tenderly stroked Naruto's arm as he came to a full-stop in front of an old looking house. It was small and had obviously seen better days. The paint was chipping off and there were spots of mold here and there. The window shingles appeared to be dangling from their hinges. The lawn had an abundance of weeds. Ultimately, Sasuke still couldn't understand why Naruto was being adamant about being dropped off in front of his abode. It wasn't like him to be ashamed. "Besides, what's the big deal?" So Sasuke asked for an explanation.

"It's just that I didn't want to risk you seeing my dad." The blond sighed. Sasuke guessed it was understandable that Naruto was feeling insecure about his father. The man was a good-for-nothing fart; but, honestly, Sasuke couldn't care any less about the man.

"Tch. I'd really like to punch your dad if I could." Naruto giggled. It was entertaining to see a disgruntled Sasuke.

"Shut up, duckbutt. Be nice. He's still my dad after all." The passenger side door clicked to announce that it had been unlocked.

"Hold on! Stay right there!" Sasuke halted Naruto's attempts of leaving the car. The young Uchiha, in turn, exited from the driver side door and went around the car. Sasuke then proceeded to open Naruto's door for the boy.

The blond started to guffaw at Sasuke's antics. "Such a gentleman." Naruto stepped out of the car and arched a blond brow at the Uchiha who had just closed the passenger side door.

Sasuke smirked and stepped closer to the shorter frame of Naruto. "When can I see you again?" The taller boy held Naruto's slender waist to keep the other in place as he simultaneously nuzzled the blonds' neck and jaw. Naruto moaned at the intimate gesture. "Tomorrow, Sasuke.", he whispered as he loosely gripped the young Uchiha's shirt. The blond, subsequently, cuddled Sasuke's cheek to return the affection that was being showered upon him.

... Neither heard nor noticed the nearby snap of a camera.

"I'll see you tomorrow then?" Sasuke took a deep inhale of Naruto's scent. God, this boy was intoxicating.

"Mhmm." Naruto brushed his lips on Sasuke's temple. But, as said, all good things must come to an end and Naruto had to pull away.

"Good night, Sasuke." The Uzumaki boy made his way to the front door and turned to look at the older teenager still frozen in spot.

Naruto snickered. "Go home, ducky."

Sasuke shook his head. "I'll wait for you to get inside before I leave, blockhead. Wouldn't want you to get raped and left for dead now, do we?"

"For a gentleman, you're still such a bastard." Naruto gave Sasuke a smile. After acquiring his house keys from his pocket, Naruto inserted the key in to the lock and opened the front door.

"Go, Sasuke. Good night." And with a wink, Naruto disappeared in to the house.

Sasuke got on his car and awakened its engine; but just before he could leave the vicinity, he groaned and rested his head on the steering wheel.

All good things must come to an end; but with every end comes the start of a new beginning.

There was no _maybe_ or _possibly _any more.

Sasuke was damn sure now.

He was _falling in love_ with Naruto. He was falling _hard_ and _fast_, and he doubted he would stop falling any time soon.


	10. Chapter 8

**A/N: **So sorry that this came out late! Not really much to say. Err. Just that I'm pretty much exhausted from my weekly activities. I've been working like a horse. -_-" Physical exhaustion coupled with bruises (from karate) is never a good thing. I'd just like to say that I'll try to update once a week, guys. The key word here being try. I'll do my best, everyone. (Determined look)

Just a little heads up. Chapter 9 (despite my trying to update once a week) might take a little longer than usual. But I'll still make a great effort to make it in time. :)

In case some of you didn't see my **announcement ** (bold letters so people can see :D), I've seen my very embarrassing mistakes in the previous chapters. I will be editing all those after I finish Fast Car (this holds true for any future errors as well).

Please do leave reviews, lovely readers. They make me very happy and motivated to write. :D Especially now, when I barely have enough energy to type. Seriously. Once I hit any form of flat surface, that's it for me. So yeah. Please let me know how I'm doing, fellas. :)

ALSO, A GREAT BIG THANK YOU TO ALL THOSE WHO REVIEWED! (since I was on topic anyway). I love how you guys are loving the fic. I was beginning to think the story had left a lot to be desired (I'm insecure that way. Ahehehe. Sweatdrop). So I sincerely thank you! :D

This is more of a filler chap than anything. Think of it as the calm before a storm. ;D

***DISCLAIMER APPLIES***

* * *

**Chapter 8**

The shrill sound of his cellular phone awakened the senses of his peacefully slumbering figure. He groaned at the repetition of rings coming from his side table. Why must people find the need to call in the most inopportune moments? He mentally drawled out a curse. Just when his dream was starting to get good (he vaguely remembered harsh panting, wandering hands, moans of pleasure. With every second he was awake, the memory of his dream was slipping past him like water in between his fingers; although one thing remained unforgotten. Blue eyes), some moron decided to call him up.

Raven eyes peeked from under the covers. Sasuke growled. Whoever this was better have a damn good reason why the fuck he decided to call at such a time. A pale arm reached for his phone and roughly flipped the device open.

"The fuck is this?" Oh dear, was he annoyed. Didn't even bother to look at the caller; just outright snapped at the poor soul on the other end.

"Fucking Hozuki Suigetsu, that's who. You never called back, Uchiha." Suigetsu sounded equally as irritated as the youngest Uhiha was.

Shit.

Sasuke hadn't even checked his voicemail yet (not as if he needed to hear Suigetsu's message to know what the damn bastard wanted). Tch. Probably should have checked his caller ID before answering.

"M'busy." Short and to the point. As much as possible, Sasuke wasn't going to involve himself with Suigetsu. The first step in achieving just that was to make the stoner feel unwanted (which he was).

"Like hell you're busy! You're not the one calling the shots here, Uchiha. I am!" Feisty piece of dried shit, wasn't he? "Remember. I have your photo, baby Uchiha. Wouldn't want it to _accidentally _fall in to the wrong hands... particularly to daddy, would we?"

Sasuke clenched his jaw in silent anger. The phone he had in his hands started to creak from the pressure of his tight grip. This dumb fuck actually had the _nerve _to boss him - Uchiha Mother effing Sasuke - around. If the photo was only in his possession, he'd definitely school Suigetsu. That was for sure.

"Look, Suigetsu. I'm dealing with a lot of things right now. I know you're calling for another set of drugs but I'm neck-deep with work. My father is making me manage a few of his businesses and I can't fit you in the schedule right now." Sasuke gave himself a pat on the shoulder. He was getting good at covering for himself as of late.

"Again, that's not for you to decide. I'm starting to get withdrawal symptoms over here! I want my stash, Sasuke!" It was evident in the drugie's tone that he meant business. This whole exchange was starting to become a great ordeal.

"God damn it, Hozuki! I can't get you drugs!" Sasuke took a deep breath. Calm down. Shouting at someone who was equally as pissed off would be counterproductive. The Uchiha backtracked and started over. "Hey. You remember the drugs you gave me that day at the restaurant, yeah?"

"What about it?"

"I'll drop it off later at your place just to get you by. I didn't use it, just so you know, so I'm not giving you leftovers." Oh, the sweetness of lying. Sasuke finished all the drugs from that day up. Luckily, he still had a few drugs left over from Kabuto last Wednesday. Nothing a little repacking won't fix and the goods would look good as new.

"Fine. I'll be expecting you, Uchiha." Click. Suigetsu hung up. Sasuke massaged the bridge of his nose. That picture needed to be burned one of these days.

Thanks to Suigetsu, Sasuke was fully awake now. No point in going back to sleep. He doubted his dream would continue where it left off anyway. The young Uchiha groggily sat up on his bed and stretched his muscularly lean arms. He gracefully rolled off the bed and proceeded with his morning ritual. Bathe, brush teeth, shave (if needed), apply lotions and creams, choose wardrobe, and so on. He would also spend a couple of minutes preening in front of his floor-length mirror (he especially took longer now since he spent most of his time gawking at the necklace he ne'er had the heart to remove from his chest). It seemed like a fairly simple process but this wasn't so for Sasuke because he always had to look prestigious. The whole procedure usually would take an hour and a half to two hours.

After his morning proceedings, he reached under his mattress to acquire the remaining drugs in his keep. He just about had enough crack and drugs to match the same weight amount Suigetsu had given him the first day. Taking two identical resealable plastic bags, Sasuke repacked the dope in exactly the same way as the previous set.

Sasuke had taken out a backpack from his walk-in closet and shoved both packs of drugs in the bag. As he made his way out of his room with bag securely placed on his back, he heard someone's throat clearing to attract his attention. The young Uchiha turned around only to face the striking features of his older brother.

"I see you're going off again today, little brother." The smooth baritone of Uchiha Itachi was always a sound one could marvel at.

"Errands." Sasuke efficiently explained with that single word. The younger Uchiha turned away from his older brother and started to move for the stairs. Before Sasuke could make his way down the flight of steps, Itachi called for his attention.

"Sasuke, be careful and stay alert." The oldest Uchiha son rested his elbows on the top rail of the upper balustrade. Now, Sasuke could just be seeing things but for a moment there, Itachi had appeared apprehensive somehow. Itachi rarely acted like an older brother towards him and Sasuke didn't know how to react to that. Those words came completely out of nowhere. Typically, when an Uchiha didn't know what to make of a situation, they would just grunt.

"Hn." Sasuke replied. A grunt served the purpose of ambiguity, neither a confirmation nor a rejection; an acknowledgement and, at the same time, an act of disregard.

As he approached the landing, he saw his father walking across their household foyer from the receiving room to the dining area. "Good morning, father." Sasuke greeted. Fugaku had simply looked at his youngest son's form (he took particular notice of Sasuke's backpack) and continued his way to the dining area. It would seem that his father was back to being the frigid, pompous man that he was. Once his father was definitely out of sight, Sasuke left the house while sending a text to Suigetsu.

'About to leave the house. I'll be at your place in a few minutes.', the text had said and Sasuke pressed send. Might as well get the Suigetsu ordeal over and done with. Then afterwards, Sasuke could go see Naruto so they could spend the day together.

It took the raven-haired youth approximately five minutes to get to the Hozuki residence. The two were essentially neighbours. With a frustrated sigh, Sasuke searched through his phone contacts. He selected Suigetsu's name and then pressed the call button.

Ring.

Sasuke slouched on the driver's seat.

Ring.

He then blew a stray bang away from his dark eyes.

Ring.

Tap-tap-tap went his fingers on his steering wheel.

Ring.

A twitch of an eye.

Ring.

"Fucking answer the phon-!"

"Yo." and finally, Suigetsu answered during Sasuke's shouting.

"What took you? I'm parked outside your gates." Sasuke growled at Suigustu's general annoying ways. The Hozukis' youngest son was innately infuriating.

"Yo yo yo! Chillax, baby Uchiha." With the way Suigetsu was speaking to Sasuke, no one would assume that he had snapped at the Uchiha boy earlier that morning. "Look over your right shoulder."

Sasuke begrudgingly did as he was told and sighted a small cluster of shrubbery within the gates of the Hozuki property. Hidden within these shrubs was a peculiar white patching amongst the various shades of green. Sasuke suspiciously eyed said white patch. What the fuck? Was that... no way. Was that Suigetsu?

As if on cue, Suigetsu emerged from the bushes with phone in hand. "Sasuke!" A totally unnecessary shriek from the crack pot who decided it was a great idea to hide inside bushes for no particular reason. Sasuke had to abruptly pull away his phone from his ear. Great. Now his ear was ringing thanks to the dumb fuck.

Suigetsu started to enthusiastically wave his available arm at the young Uchiha who was currently looking like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Sasuke had half a mind to drive away and never come back.

Suigetsu was still waving at him like complete lunatic. He wasn't even moving from his spot in the bushes. He was just there . . .waving at Sasuke.

Sasuke cautiously placed his phone back to his ear (in case that idiot decided he wanted to shout again) to clarify the whole situation. "Suigetsu, you've been sitting there all this time?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"Kind of. I've been here for the past thirty minutes, I think."

. . . What a peculiar boy this one was.

"So what was the point of me calling when you saw me arrive? What's more, what took you so long to answer your phone?" Sasuke gripped his steering wheel with his left hand. God, was this a waste of time.

Suigetsu merely shrugged as a response. One of these days, Sasuke would strangle this boy. The world would be a much happier, smarter place without this bloke wasting valuable space and air.

"Tch. Just get over here and get your dope." And Sasuke hung up. He couldn't help but briefly wonder why they kept their conversation on the phone when they were only a few metres away from each other. It was quite stupid really.

Sasuke exited his car once Suigetsu crossed the gates that separated public property from the Hozuki property. As Sasuke approached Suigetsu, he completely understood the reason as to why Suigetsu was acting so bizarrely than usual. Honestly, Sasuke shouldn't even be surprised. Suigetsu was high.

"Hn. I thought you said you ran out of drugs, you liar." Sasuke accused while he shrugged off his backpack.

"I've got an emergency stash, babe." Suigetsu winked.

"If you ever call me 'babe' or wink at me ever again, I'll wring your neck." Sasuke pulled out the two packs of drugs and haphazardly tossed both to Suigetsu's awaiting hands.

"You're such a pussy. Tsk. Didn't even touch the good stuff I gave you." Suigetsu cradled the two bags like his very own newborn child.

"Hn. If you don't need anything else, I'm going to go." Sasuke turned to leave, all the while shaking his head at Suigetsu who had started to coo at the drugs. Before Sasuke could open his car door, Suigetsu decided to pitch in one last comment.

"I won't be as lenient next time, Uchiha. I expect you to deliver precisely when I ask you to. Remember, I have your—"

"Yeah, yeah. You have my photo. I don't need a constant reminder, Hozuki." Sasuke gave Suigetsu a very heated glare. The Uchiha signature threat. "But please do both of us a favor and make your new supplies last. I don't want to hear from you any time soon." The young Uchiha had gotten on his car and slammed the door shut. With a roar of his engine, Sasuke sped away, leaving Suigetsu with a lungful of dust. After his fit of coughing, Suigetsu glared at the general direction Sasuke had left to.

"Prick.", and Suigetsu reassumed his place, hidden in the shrubs.

lllllllllllllllllll

Practice genuinely did make perfect.

The past few days of his Naruto-hunt proved to be beneficial in the end. It took Sasuke less than twenty minutes to look for Naruto, partially because Sasuke now had a general idea where and when to look for the blond. It was almost noon, therefore Naruto would most likely be working, or if Sasuke was unlucky, Naruto would be making a delivery. The young Uchiha was fortunate that the former option held true.

Sasuke looked blasé as he leant on to the side of his car as he gazed upon a very endearing sight. Just across the street from where he was positioned, was the convenience store Naruto worked at. Through the shop's windows, Sasuke could see that the shorter boy was trying to reach for something at one of the top wall shelves. Naruto's attempts were all futile so far, so the blond lad puffed out his cheeks and pouted at the 'too high for his height' shelf. Sasuke let out a laugh. Surely the store had a stepping stool in there somewhere. But then again, had the blond used a stepping stool, Sasuke wouldn't have had the pleasure of watching the adorable hopping boy struggle.

After checking for any oncoming cars, Sasuke crossed the street to get a closer view of his blond. Well, not his _yet _but that can be easily remedied.

Sasuke entered the store with an amused smirk placed upon his lips. He had an up close visual of Naruto's arching back in an effort to reach the top shelf. Naruto was such a dumb blond sometimes.

Sasuke quietly crept towards the unsuspecting store employee. Once close enough, Sasuke took a minute to appreciate the person right in front of him. Heh. This'll be fun. All he needed to do was to wait for the most suitable time to strike.

. . .

. . .

Naruto slacked and put all his weight on one foot. That moment, Sasuke decided, was suitable enough.

In one fluid motion, the taller boy placed his soft hand in front of Naruto's blue eyes while his other hand found purchase on the shorter boy's hip. With a yelp, Naruto tensed his whole body. To soothe the blonds' sudden panic, Sasuke immediately spoke in that smooth, husky voice of his.

"You should probably use a step ladder instead of jumping up and down like an idiot, my dear sweet idiot." Sasuke whispered as he brushed his nose along the shell of Naruto's tan ear.

The blond store clerk immediately relaxed his stance as he recognized the intruder's voice. He then leant his body against the warmth radiating from Sasuke own. Naruto hummed in pleasure at Sasuke's general presence. What was amazing was how both seemed to fit perfectly together like two puzzle pieces.

"Miss me, blockhead?" The smile on Sasuke's face was involuntary. Being with Naruto had that effect on him.

"Well, I don't really know who I'm talking to since you're covering my eyes. Are you someone worth missing?" Naruto decided to tease the young Uchiha a little. Although Naruto, despite feigning ignorance, rested his head against Sasuke's cheek.

The older teen snickered. If Naruto wanted to play then Sasuke would oblige. After all, it took two to flirt.

"You know, for someone who can't determine who I am, you seem to be making yourself awfully comfortable against my body, angel-face." Sasuke thumbed Naruto's hip in a soothing manner. With the close proximity Sasuke had to Naruto's ear, the young Uchiha was able to conclude that he had embarrassed the shorter boy in his arms. It was adorable how those ears had turned so splendidly red. Sasuke had a spontaneously great urge to bite the ear presented to him. And he did (which wasn't all that surprising). He gently nibbled on Naruto's ear; starting from the lobe to mid-ear shell, then back to the lobe.

"Nghh… Sasuke." Naruto moaned out the young Uhiha's name and started to slightly pant. The blond pressed closer against Sasuke's hard chest and gripped the material of Sasuke's jeans.

Sasuke let his head fall on to Naruto's shoulder. In truth, he was breathing quite heavily as well (because fuck, was Naruto so hot right now). Naruto shivered at the way Sasuke's hot breath was tickling the sensitive skin on his neck.

"S'uke." The voice was breathy. God, if Naruto kept saying his name that way… Well, fuck.

"Hn. Would you look at that. So you figured out who I was. You deserve a prize." Sasuke trailed his straight nose on the outline of Naruto's neck. Much to his great dismay, before Sasuke could even further his advances on Naruto, the blond pulled away from Sasuke's loose hold.

"Easy, tiger." Naruto tried valiantly to appear unaffected by Sasuke's blatant show of affection, but the haze in those blue eyes told differently.

Sasuke growled at the loss of Naruto's warmth. The absence of Naruto against his body upset him so he tried to corner the shorter boy with the utmost subtlety.

Naruto giggled. "I said down, boy!" Well, not as much subtlety as Sasuke originally thought.

"So what time do you get off work?" Sasuke followed Naruto's tracks.

"My shift ends at three so I have a good couple of hours left. Why?" Naruto proceeded his way in to the staff area, leaving Sasuke to grumble at the fact that he couldn't leave with the blond just yet.

"Can't you leave earlier?" Sasuke checked his watch and sighed as he rested his elbows on top of the counter. Cripes. Three hours. What was he going to do for the next three hours?

"No can do, chickenbutt. The boss would kill me." Naruto shouted from inside the stock room; his voice sounding quite muffled behind the walls.

Sasuke tsked in annoyance. "Let me talk to the guy. I can be very … persuasive." He smirked at the prospect of having to deal with Naruto's boss.

Naruto emerged from within the stock room carrying an overused step stool. He didn't look too amused with Sasuke's response since the blonds' lower lip was jutting out in a pout. "No way, ducky. I bet you're just gonna accost the poor guy. Just wait it out. You can do that, can't you?" Naruto then dropped the stool just below the shelf he was previously trying to reach for.

"And what do you suggest I do for the next three hours?" Sasuke approached and pinned Naruto to the closest available wall, placing his arms on each side of the shorter boy's blond head. Trapped like a mouse; just the way Sasuke wanted him.

Naruto purred while biting his pretty pink lip. The blond lowered his upper eyelids in a seductive manner as he reached up to fix a nonexistent crease from Sasuke's collar. "I know exactly what you can do for the next three hours." Naruto let a hand slide down Sasuke's firm chest and rested said hand on the Uchiha's hard stomach.

This was surprising. Sasuke didn't expect Naruto to respond this way with his flirting. He was expecting the blond to blush and tell him to shut up like usual. Not this. In a way, he was glad Naruto was flirting back, but in some other messed up way, his plan backfired. Instead of Naruto acting like a blushing bride, Sasuke ended up the one being flustered as Naruto gently blew air to the young Uchiha's left ear.

Sasuke would be a god damn liar if he said he wasn't the slightest bit aroused right now. And to think Naruto barely even touched him.

"What you can do is..." Naruto whispered in a sultry tone. Sasuke could only moan. The raven haired teen came up with a lot of _activities _for the next three hours alone with Naruto.

"What you can do for the next three hours is..." Naruto lightly pressed his lips to Sasuke's temple. "is actually let me do my job." And suddenly Naruto wasn't trapped in between the wall and Sasuke's taller built. The blond managed to quickly duck and manoeuvre his body around Sasuke.

. . . The flipping tease!

This was just fantastic. Now, instead of just being bored for the rest of Naruto's shift, he would get to spend the remaining hours being sexually frustrated as well. Brilliant. Just insanely brilliant.

Naruto, who was now situated on top pf the step ladder, looked to Sasuke and couldn't help but snort at the disgruntled look the little rich boy had. Sasuke resembled a grumpy wet cat in Naruto's opinion. It was hilarious.

The blond turned back to his work, reaching for what looked to be a few overly dented canned merchandise. He had to replace those. Not like customers would buy a dented can. "Why don't you just come back later, ducky? I'm sure you can find something more interesting to do than stay here."

"Tch. Don't be an idiot. There's nothing interesting out there." The raven-haired boy leaned against the space near the shelf the blond was tending to.

Naruto furrowed his brows while picking out the merchandise he needed to replace. "And staying here doing absolutely nothing is interesting?"

"Of course. You're all the entertainment I need." Which was true. Being with Naruto proved to be the most fulfilling and liberating activity he had ever done, much more so than his school extracurriculars, council programs, and whatnot.

Naruto sent a lingering side glance to his companion. This can't be real, can it? To have Sasuke, an Uchiha of all things, saying and doing all these things, even if all in jest, was surreal. No. It just had to be a joke. This, whatever _this _was, just had to be a joke. "Stop kidding around, Sasuke. You'll make me fall in –"

What?

Sasuke snapped his head towards the blond who looked like he was just kicked in the gut.

Was Naruto about to say what Sasuke thought he was going to say?

"Excuse me?" The young Uchiha tried to salvage whatever he could from Naruto's little slip. He hoped against all hope that whatever Naruto was about to say was exactly the confession he wanted to hear from the Uzumaki.

"I – err – uhh. I meant uhm." Naruto fumbled with his words, obviously digging up an excuse to sate his older friend. It took the blond a couple of seconds of random mumbling when finally, "I meant fall off."

Sasuke arched a perfect black brow. Judging by the sweat that started to pop out from Naruto's forehead, the blond was clearly lying. Like hell Sasuke would buy any of Naruto's excuses now.

"Yeah! That's right. I could fall off this step stool if you don't stop kidding around." The half-assed defence was followed by an awkward laugh. Yeah. Any person in their right mind would definitely _not_ buy whatever Naruto was saying.

Naruto stepped off the ladder and saw the incredulous look on Sasuke's face. There was a slight movement on Naruto's tan neck; the boy had obviously gulped. With a lowered head, Naruto added, "Please just pretend that the bullshit I spewed out convinced you."

Sasuke watched as Naruto left to the stock room with cans in hand. He'd let it slide… for now. He didn't want Naruto to feel conscious for the rest of the day so he decided to reassure the lovable blond store clerk. "You know, I totally agree with you. It would be in your nature to fall off a stepping ladder. You're the kind of blockhead who would let something as idiotic as that happen to him." Sasuke shouted. Pretend to be convinced, Naruto had asked. He could do that; after all, pretending was his forte. Besides, it wasn't as if Naruto was asking something so grand from him.

Naruto re-emerged with a new set of cans, all of which were dent-free. He looked quote ashamed, if Sasuke said so himself. "I'm so sorry, Sasuke. I'm just…"

"No. I get it. You're still trying to sort things out. Don't be sorry." Sasuke took some of the cans Naruto was holding to lighten the load the shorter boy was carrying. Hey. Sasuke was there anyway. Why not help out?

"But Sasuke!"

"Hey, don't worry about it." And with an attractive smile, Sasuke ended the discussion. Everything would fall in to place in its own time and turn.

So Sasuke waited

And waited

And waited

And before he could even realize it, he had fallen asleep. To think a person of his stature could ever end up sleeping inside a dingy convenience store. Naruto smiled at the sight.

"If you don't stop kidding around with me, Sasuke, I might just fall in love with you." The blond whispered to the dreaming Uchiha who was sitting on a plastic chair, the counter supporting his folded pale arms. The young Uchiha's handsome face was hidden and nestled in between his crossed upper limbs; his mop of black hair stood out against the counter top.

Naruto tenderly played with Sasuke's dark strands as he snickered to himself. "You won't get anywhere with me. I'm a dead end. Not to mention we're both boys. There's that." Blue eyes studied the way the other teen's torso steadily went up and down in time with his breathing.

Naruto looked up to the wall clock and leaned towards Sasuke's head, letting the black strands tickle his nose.

"Wake up, ducky."

llllllllllllllllllll

"Damn. Your room is huge." Naruto gawked at the sheer size of Sasuke's room. It was unbelievable. A family could probably live in that room alone. "Your house in general is ginormous, ducky."

"Ginormous?"

Naruto went ahead and made himself comfortable on Sasuke bed. "Gigantic and enormous." He explained with a goofy grin on his face. Only Naruto would come up with his own words to get his point across. Kind of like Shakespeare... only stupider.

After Naruto's shift ended, Sasuke decided to bring the boy to the Uhiha household. That was what friends did, right? Bring them in to the house (not just outside of it). Sasuke was also happy to know that once they had arrived at Uchiha grounds, none of his family members were home. No prying mother, no judging father, and no cocky brother. It was just him and Naruto... and the maids but they were a minor issue.

As per Naruto's request, Sasuke toured him around the house. The young Uchiha mostly showed Naruto around the first floor in a more in depth fashion than the second floor; the second floor did consist of all the private rooms of the family. Naruto was completely understanding of that fact so, as much as possible, the blond simply viewed the rooms from their respective doors.

The tour ended with Sasuke's bedroom which is why we now find a blond boy flopped on top of a large bed while the owner of said bed stared at his guest.

"The size of the house means nothing. What's important is the people living in it." Sasuke knelt on his mattress, viewing Naruto in a somewhat predatory way. Mmm. Naruto on his bed. The possibilities were endless.

"Yeah. I hear you, ducky." Naruto arched his back as he stretched his slender form. His shirt rode up making the lower part of his stomach visible for Sasuke's eyes to feast on. The blond closed his weary eyes for a moment; enough time for Sasuke to try his luck.

Sasuke crawled towards the resting boy in his bed, not dissimilar to a cat ready to pounce on its prey. The Uchiha's movement caused his bed to slightly creak due to shifting of weight. The creaking, in turn, caused Naruto to scrunch up his brows. Before the blond could even open his eyes to see what was going on, Sasuke threw his weight on to the boy, effectively pinning him.

"Ducky?" Naruto was looking every bit like the caught mouse that he was.

"Shhhh." Sasuke purred as he attacked the blonds' luscious long tan neck. A lick here. A bite there. A suck and kiss every so often. All these put together made Naruto a moaning pile of goo.

"Sasuke." Naruto drawled out, offering more skin for Sasuke to explore. The blond let out a hiss when the dominating Uchiha nibbled on a collar bone.

"Fuck." Sasuke cursed. He was fully aroused now. He slid a hand inside Naruto's shirt, palming at the blonds' taut stomach, while his other hand toyed with Naruto's jean's zipper.

"Oh God, Sasuke!" Naruto panted, the haze of lust clouding his blue eyes.

Sasuke looked up to directly gaze at those murky blue irises. God, did he want this boy. Sasuke fixed his body so that he was once again at eye-level with the object of his affection. He leaned down and brushed his lips with Naruto's own. If he had put it in even a miniscule amount of pressure, Sasuke could have kissed Naruto. "Naruto." The young Uchiha whispered the name as a permission. Would Naruto let him? Sasuke had to wonder.

But alas, at the mention of his name, Naruto abruptly pushed Sasuke's body away. "What's the matter?" Sasuke asked as he sat up on his bed.

"What are we, Sasuke?" Naruto sat up and pulled his knees to his chest.

"Huh?" Sasuke cutely tilted his head to the side. If not for the situation, Naruto would have cooed at the gesture.

Naruto hugged his knees tight in an effort to soothe himself. "What _are_ we? Where is this going?"

It was a very good question.

What _were _they?

Were they friends?... No. Friends didn't try to snog the living daylights out of each other. Sasuke was sure as hell they weren't together. Friends with benefits maybe? No. He didn't want their relationship to be so shallow.

So what?

"I don't know." Sasuke openly admitted.

"Oh. I see." It was hard to miss the fact that Naruto looked lost. Sasuke had to fix that.

"But hey, all I know is I want you with me, if it were just possible, all the time. There's something about you that draws me in." Since the Uchiha was already confessing, why not go all the way? "I really like you, Naruto." Not exactly the L-word he wanted to say, but it was a start. Besides, Sasuke was pretty sure he couldn't play that card yet without scaring his blond.

Naruto rested his cheek on his forearm and smiled. "Ducky is such a cheeseball." The tone was meant to tease the older boy but ended up sounding more lovestruck than anything. Neither of the boys would like to admit the fact that they stared at each other longer than it was necessary. Any outside party would have felt out of place had they witnessed this sight.

Snapping out of whatever spell he had fallen in, Naruto checked for the time. "I should head out, ducky. I need to be delivering soon." This caused Sasuke to squint his eyes. Naruto couldn't be delivering drugs again?

As if reading Sasuke's thoughts, Naruto clarified "Not drugs this time. Don't worry, babe. Just a private letter, really. The guy who paid me was a bit paranoid. Oddly enough, he actually trusted me to run the errand." That seemed to have eased the young Uchiha, but what really did the job was the term of endearment Naruto used during the explanation. Suigetsu calling him babe was a crime. Naruto, on the other hand, was a whole different story.

"Hn. I'll drive." Sasuke stood up from his mattress and pulled out his keys from his pocket.

"Thanks, Sas. That would really cut down travel time for me. But, if it's okay, can you take me home first? I hid the letter in my room." Naruto tried to fix his appearance. Truthfully, he looked every bit of the snogged person that he was. Fortunately though, the lovebites Sasuke had left hadn't bruised yet. So far, Naruto just looked like his neck had been attacked by a swarm of mosquitos. Still fairly publicly presentable, Sasuke would say.

The way down the stairs was a pretty comical affair. Naruto had tried to trip his companion several times. Sasuke would retaliate with a smack upside Naruto's blond head. Naruto's giggling always seemed to refresh Sasuke's countenance. Before long, Sasuke was demurely chuckling.

As they arrived at the landing, all sounds of laughter halted. Unconsciously, Sasuke placed himself in front of the blond. There, standing in the antechamber, was Uchiha Fugaku in all his glory. It looked like he had just come from the receiving room and was about to make his way back to, most probably, his study.

"Sasuke." The man's deep voice reverberated through the silent house.

"Father." Sasuke took a step back, making himself physically more accessible to the blond behind him.

"Who's your guest?" Fugaku threw a cold calculating gaze at the strange boy who was clinging on to the back of his son's shirt.

Sasuke hoped Naruto's name was all his father needed. Hopefully, the man wouldn't pry any further. "This is..."

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, sir." And suddenly, Naruto was in between Fugaku and the man's youngest son. The blond extended a hand, obviously trying to initiate a handshake, all the while offering the head of the Uchiha family a warm smile.

Wrong move, Sasuke couldn't help but think.

Fugaku distastefully glared at Naruto's hand. "Sasuke, your guest is rude and impulsive."

The comment was like a slap to the face. The smile on Naruto's wavered but the hand remained in place.

"Tell me, boy, where do you go to school? Don't they teach their students proper manners and conduct?" And there was the judging look on Fugaku's gruff face.

Sasuke and Naruto flinched. That had Naruto retracting his hand in an instant. Much to Sasuke's great worry, Naruto answered Fugaku's inquiry. "Sir, I'm currently out of school."

"Father,my friend and I should really get going." Sasuke tried to save his blond from his father's badgering...

"A delinquent, I see. How old are you?" But the man carried on.

Sasuke stepped closer to Naruto and nudged the shorter boy. "Narut-"

"I'm seventeen, sir." The blond answered as he squared his shoulders. Why in fuck's name was Naruto indulging?!

The silence was stifling. The air felt as if it was closing in on both boys, and it froze them in place. The look Fugaku was shooting at the poor blond was one of pure aversion, as if the boy was the scum at the bottom of his fine Italian leather shoes. All Naruto could do was shrink beneath Uchiha Fugaku's stare. Sasuke had had it. No way in hell would Sasuke expose his blond to this sort of treatment. Before he could escort Naruto out of his house, his father offensively beat him to the punch.

"Sasuke, please ask this boy to leave the premises." The man then left the company of the two boys in the vicinity.

Sasuke glared at his father's back. He would gladly leave the premises with Naruto. He'd take the boy as far away from Fugaku as possible. The young Uchiha pulled Naruto away proceeded to the front entrance.

"I am so sorry." Sasuke whispered to Naruto, his black eyes softening at the blond in sympathy.

The blond shook his head and released a breath. "You weren't kidding about your dad. He's one tough cookie." Despite the attempt at a jibe, it was obvious that Naruto was shaken. No one deserved that kind of treatment.

Sasuke interlaced his fingers with Naruto's and squeezed the latter's hand in a comforting manner. "Come on. I'll take you home."

"I forbid it, Sasuke." Sasuke straightened his back and tensed. Hadn't his father left them? The youngest Uchiha boy turned and looked to his father, noting how the man briefly glanced at Sasuke and Naruto's interlocked fingers.

"You will stay here. That boy will see himself home." The command was said in a voice that left no room for argument.

"But father—" One must commend Sasuke's bravery for trying to talk back anyways.

"Uchiha Sasuke, you will stay here. Do I make myself clear?" It was rhetorical question but that didn't stop Sasuke from wanting to answer back.

Naruto looked to Sasuke as the older teen drew in a breath. Naruto cut in before Sasuke could dig up an even deeper grave for himself. "He understands, sir. I'll be taking my leave now."

"What?" Sasuke snapped his head to Naruto.

"It's fine, Sasuke. I'll see you around." Naruto hid and squeezed their joined hands one more time and let go. "It was a pleasure to meet you, sir." The sound of the door opening and closing served as a punctuation to the whole fiasco.

Sasuke stood in place, staring at the door Naruto had used not a few seconds ago. He could feel the burning stare his father on his back. The very presence of Fugaku ignited a passionate hate in Sasuke. That man was… urgh! That man was unbelievable!

"Sasuke, what did he say his last name was?" The misplaced curiosity arose suspicion within the young Uchiha.

Through clenched teeth, Sasuke answered his father. "Uzumaki. Why?" Sasuke refused to look at that … that … _swine_.

"Hn. I see. I don't want you seeing that boy again. Disobey me, Sasuke, and you'll regret it." The shuffling of shoes announced Fugaku's departure. Sasuke knew his father was really gone once the sound of a door closing a ways away echoed through the halls.

Sasuke clenched a palm and hit the nearest wall with the side of his lower arms and fist. With a growl, he vowed to fight his father's wishes.

"I'll regret it? Tch. Try me."


	11. Chapter 9

**A/N: **Hellooooo! So... this was late. Really late actually. Good (and at the same time bad...mostly bad actually) news! Just when I thought I couldn't get any busier, a co-worker of mine handed in a resignation letter while another decided to resume studies. So now, I probably won't even get a day off anymore (as my boss foretold me)! This sucks. -_-" But enough of my ranting.

**Chapter heads up: **A lot of things happen in this chapter. My way of apologizing for its lateness and any future lateness. Hehe. Things might get a little bit confusing in this chapter. I tried to portray a character's emotion using a play on scenes. Let's call it my weird writing style. I tried my best to execute the way the scene was written as best I could. Hopefully, I achieved the desired effect. If not, well, y'all can message me if I just successfully made my readers confused.

I need some advice. I want to get this story out there, so I was thinking maybe I should write a couple of short stories just to get myself out on the map for this fan base. What do you guys think?

I know I promised updates to be once a week last chapter but I might just have to change that as circumstances have drastically changed. Words cannot express how sorry I am! I'll try my best to update as much as possible but I don't think I can guarantee once a week anymore. I'll still try, no doubt about that, but be prepared for my being late.

Please review, guys! They make me very happy :3 I like to hear your thoughts about this story. :D Ahehehe. Here is the fashionably late Chapter 9!

***DISCLAIMER APPLIES***

* * *

**Chapter 9**

Clank.

The smell of freshly made breakfast permeated the room.

Clink. Clank.

The morning sun shone through the garish windows, illuminating the space with its bright rejuvenating light.

Clink.

Black feminine eyes shifted between two of the three men in her life, both staring coldly at each other. Her husband and her youngest were making an awful lot of rude noises with their plates. She looked to her oldest boy to see what he made of the situation.

Clink. Clink. Clink.

Itachi, feeling his mother's gaze on him, merely shrugged and continued silently with his meal. Hn. What a way to make a superb morning remarkably uncomfortable for everyone.

Clack!

"Sasuke, it seems like you have something you wish to say to me." The purposefully dropped spoon on Fugaku's plate caused everyone to straighten in attention.

With narrowed eyes, Sasuke subtly rotated his shoulders to forcefully loosen his tensed muscles. "Of course, father. I was just minding the slight noise you were making with your utensils. It's quite impolite, really."

Fugaku could only snarl at his boy. "I could say the same to you, young man." It was astounding how his son was being so disrespectful. To his own father no less! "What an ill-mannered brat. So unbecoming of an Uchiha. Where is your breeding? I distinctly remember raising you better than this, Sasuke."

Ouch. Burn.

Fugaku definitely knew where and how to hit a soft spot. Sasuke released a low growl which reverberating through his throat.

"Now, now, let's all calm down. Let's not start the day with unnecessary arguing." Mikoto, being the mother of this dysfunctional unit, tried to alleviate the heavy air in the atmosphere. Unfortunately, this only served for her husband to direct his heated gaze at her.

"For Christ's sake, you can't have just tolerated this boy's unrefined behaviour, Mikoto!" Mikoto abruptly shut her mouth, resulting with the click of her teeth at the speed and force of the action. With just one sentence, Fugaku managed to regain the firm grip on his wife.

"Sasuke, apologize to your father." How predictable. Just when Sasuke thought his mother might be softening up to him, she goes ahead and does this. This family would _never _change.

"Hn." Sasuke hastily stood up, causing his chair to loudly scrape the floor. "I'm going out." He decided to just walk away because staying here would just infuriate him, because staying here would just be a waste of time and energy. He had better things to do... like visit his blond. The exact same blond his father ordered him not to see. Tch. As if he'd comply.

"Sasuke! You did not ask to be excused from this table!" Mikoto reprimanded her son, throwing her cloth napkin in irritation; but her son made no signs of stopping his leave.

Itachi silently studied the whole scene unfold with calculating eyes. Admittedly, his little brother was acting rather brutish. For this reason, he couldn't help but be sceptical at the fact that their father had said nothing about the matter of Sasuke's impolite departure.

"Sasuke!" Mikoto screeched once more to get her son's attention. She stood up to follow the young man but Fugaku halted her.

"Let him go, Mikoto."

Mikoto, in vexation, returned to her seat and continued her meal. Not long after, the sound of the front door opening and closing was heard. Sasuke had up and left.

Itachi halved his eyes in suspicion. How queer. His father would never let something like this go so easily. The man had badgered the family with acting with the highest conduct, was obsessed with drilling it in their heads actually. Clearly, there was something amiss and he predicted that the situation would be explained in

Three...

Two...

One.

The front door slammed open, followed by a series of stomping. Ooh, someone seemed pissed. Lo and behold, in came Sasuke with a frightful unfitting grimace on his handsome face.

"Where is my car?"

With those four words, Itachi pieced together the mystery of his father's unusual 'pacifism',so to speak. Fugaku crossed his arms and lounged his body against the back of his chair with the most devious smirk on his lips. The silence wagered on.

"Father. Where. Is. My. Car?" Sasuke enunciated each word with barely restrained anger in his voice.

The sadistic glee was visible in Fugaku's features. He was enjoying this. That god damn bastard of a father was actually enjoying his own son's misery.

Sasuke edged closer to the dining table. "Don't make me ask again! God damn—"

"How dare you take that tone with me!" The booming voice of Uchiha Fugaku sounded throughout the household. Fugaku stood at full height. His towering form instilled submission in the hearts of those under the Uchiha house's roof. Sasuke took a half step back, the instinct to please his father kicking in.

"I am your father, Uchiha Sasuke, and I will not let you disrespect me in my own home! Do you understand?"

The youngest Uchiha lowered his head but kept eye contact with his father. Noticing the lingering defiance in Sasuke black orbs, Fugaku repeated his question. "Do you understand, Sasuke?"

Fugaku minutely jerked his body in surprise when an unattractive snarl came from his youngest son across the dining area.

"Tell me where _the fuck_ my car is."

Ladies and gentlemen, Uchiha Sasuke grew a backbone that day. Oh, but that displeased his father. Displeased the man very much so; and in the next second, he was making his way to his son.

Smack!

"Fugaku!" Mikoto gasped, the concern etched on her face.

Sasuke's head whipped to the side. Fugaku had just slapped his son. The young Uchiha ever so slowly turned his head and focused a scalding glower to the man in front of him.

"You want to know where your car is, you impudent child? I asked my men to take it. In fact, all of our cars are with my people right now. You are not to leave this house unchaperoned, Sasuke. If you want to leave, you ask for my permission first. If I approve, and only _if _I approve, can you go." Heh. Funny. With the conditions his father just mentioned, his so called _home sweet home _fell just short of a prison.

"It's not like our cars are the only things that can take me places, _daddy. _I can always commute. Hell, I'll walk if I have to." Sasuke mocked.

"All this for that mongrel, Sasuke?" And so finally, Fugaku voiced the main issue. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the term his father decided to call Naruto. Mongrel? As if the man saw Naruto as a dog. Sasuke clenched his fists to quell his rapidly growing rage.

"Besides, Sasuke, are you actually so willing to let our neighbours see you use public transit like a mere commoner? To let them see you in such a disreputable state? To let everyone cast you aside just so you can be with that _rat_? No. Of course you won't risk it, Sasuke." Fugaku continued. In the end, that was the real issue here, and both father and son knew it. Not the fact that Sasuke would look like a commoner but the fact that he wanted to keep in touch with the blond streetrat. So incredibly sure was he that his son would not risk it because the man was very much aware that Sasuke tried so hard to be perfect. He knew how his boy had fought tooth and nail to gain desirable reputation. Fugaku knew how hard the boy pushed for perfection and yet still he demanded his son for more.

Sasuke stilled all his movement for a moment.

Would he?

Would he actually soil his reputation?

Would he ruin the perfection he strove for years to achieve?

Could he stand the discriminating eyes their wealthy, highly regarded friends would shoot at him?

All these and more just for the blond?

". . ." Sasuke took a moment to process the weight of the situation.

For Naruto?

Of course, he'd risk it.

"Heh. Frankly, I couldn't care less, father. I'm going." Sasuke turned his back to his father and walked to the foyer. For the briefest of moments, Fugaku reeled at the initial shock of his son openly defying him in such a way.

Just before Sasuke could reach for the door handle, Fugaku regained composure and bet all his cards that what he would say to his son next would definitely work.

"Sasuke, if you shame this family's name in any way, I promise you, you will not be able to set foot in these premises ever again." That had discontinued all of Sasuke's attempts of leaving. It was one thing to be judged; it was another to be cut off from all basic necessities. That was a different story altogether.

"It was that huge of a deal that you had to threaten to cut me off?" Sasuke kept his back to the man he unfortunately called father.

"I've worked too damn hard to keep this family at the top, Sasuke, and I will not have you ruin it by remaining in contact with that blond pest. Do not test me, young man."

Sasuke turned around, vaguely noticing that his older brother was positioned in the area between the dining room and the foyer, and addressed his father with all the pent up hatred he had kept all these years. "This family is a menace. I hope our esteemed name burns to ashes." And Sasuke made a wild dash to his room before his father could retort his slandering.

"Sasuke! Wait!" Itachi cried out but the youngest Uchiha had slammed the door shut, the room separating himself and his family with its walls.

llllllllllllllllllll

For the rest of the day, Sasuke remained in the safety of his room. He refused to respond to any of the calls from outside. He would sometimes grunt, but that was to express his irritation and to tell whoever was outside his door to piss off. All invitations for lunch and dinner were snubbed (and, darn it, was he starving!) as he was against all notion of leaving his personal quarters.

It was quite expected that if a person was to be alone with nothing to entertain him, that person would start to muse about anything and everything under the sun, which was exactly what Sasuke had been doing for the past so and so hours; although circumstances would dictate that he was, in actuality, thinking about his current predicament.

As Sasuke was glaring at the space above his bed, he reflected upon himself. He had already established the lengths he would go through for the sake of just spending time with Naruto (because fuck what everyone else thought, right?); but to be threatened with disownment? Sasuke clicked his tongue and turned over, effectively burying his face in his sheets. As he rested on his bed, he let his eyes drift close and he steadied his breathing.

_"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Cool it, ducky! I ain't got money so forget about it!"_

_"Aww! Ducky is such a bastard!"_

_"Uzumaki Naruto."_

_"Sasuke, stop him."_

_"Leave, Uchiha."_

_"I was hoping it wasn't you."_

_"Tell me, did the drugs you bought earlier today make you feel any better?"_

_"Well, that was one heck of an apology, huh, Sasuke?"_

_"An Uchiha shouldn't leave his mouth wide open, ducky. It looks very unflattering."_

_"My dad is an alcoholic, Sasuke."_

_"I'm stuck here and I know for a fact that I'm stuck here for the rest of my life."_

_"Go, Sasuke. Good night."_

_"It's fine, Sasuke. I'll see you around."_

It was funny how his short trip down memory lane stirred so many emotions from him. Annoyance. Regret. Pain. Shock. Relief. Anger. Worry. Most of all, _Love_.

"I need to see him." And with great resolve, Sasuke leapt out of bed and opened his window. Forget the front door or the back door; he'd just be asking to get caught. He gazed down from his window. Tsk. His room was too damn high to be able to jump and not get away unscathed. There had to be another way.

Looking to the right, he saw their vine trellis that ran from the bottom floor to the midsection of the house. Excellent. Only problem was how to get to the trellis which by the way was a good three to four metres away. Well, Itachi had a veranda that was significantly closer to the trellis than his window. He could sneak into Itachi's room and ...No. Too risky. There had to be something he could use to step on which was closer to his current position. Hmmm.

There!

Below his window was a small wall protrusion that was constructed to indicate the separation of the first and second floor. The ledge (if you could call it a ledge) ran all around the house and it was big enough so that Sasuke could fit his foot on the blessed thing. Shit. Was he really going to do this? Sasuke took a good hold of his window sill and took a step out of his window. Yup. He was actually going to seriously do this.

So there he stood facing the wall of his house, his feet just fitting perfectly on the small ledge. By God, this was scary. With a release of breath, he let go of his hold on his window. There was nothing to keep him stable now. He was, officially, in danger of falling. Slowly and carefully, he sidled across, making sure to keep whatever balance he had.

So far, so good.

A wobble here and a heart-stopping slip there. Phew. N-n-nothing to be frightened about.

Okay.

Just a few more steps...

Aaaand...

Safe.

Sasuke grabbed onto the vine trellis like his life depended on it (because it was). Everything from there on out would be a piece of cake. Well, relative to the stunt he just pulled with the ledge. Yessir. Piece. Of. Cake.

Climbing down the trellis, he decided, was just like going down a ladder. Only this ladder had a few plants and stems poking him in the ribs and pricking him in his hands, but those were just minor details. Before he knew it, he felt the ground below his feet; and what a glorious feeling that was. Sweet, sweet ground! He could just kiss it... but he had no time for such silly unsanitary things. He still needed to get out of their property.

He just had to say that he felt so ninja right now. He even did a couple of dodge rolls. Completely unnecessary but looked really cool. One would think Sasuke would just high-tail it out of there, disregarding all the aesthetics, but noooo. Where was his sense of urgency?

"What was that?" a voice from not too far away said. It was one of their live-in maids, taking a break from her duties. Guess his dodge rolls were necessary after all.

"Hm? There's nothing there, Tayuya. You're seeing things." So there was another person with her. Sasuke recognized the other as the girl who was always in the kitchen and/or dining area. Probably did all the cooking or something.

"Meh, Guess you're right. I'm probably just too tired." The maid, Tayuya, said. It was weird how Sasuke didn't even know the names of the people that worked for them. At least now, he knew who Tayuya was.

Making use of the shadows the trees casted, he was able to leave the expanse of land with little effort. Lifting his left wrist, he checked for the time. 7:12PM. It was enough time to go see Naruto and return to his room without anyone noticing that he had left. Irritatingly enough, his mother would most likely try to talk her way in to his room so they could talk. She was confusing that way. One moment, she was pulling him in, and the next, she would be scorning his very presence; and vice-versa.

Sasuke started to run up their street. At this time, Naruto would most likely be at their alley. By the young Uchiha's calculations, if he ran to the alley without stopping, that would take him a minimum of fifty minutes; a conservative estimate. It was in these times that he was thankful he was an athlete; but damn! Fifty minutes of nonstop running?!

"Well, fuck me." And Sasuke ran.

llllllllllllllllllll

"Cripes! What were you thinking?!" Naruto screamed at Sasuke who sat panting like a wild animal on the alley grounds. The blond wiped the sweat off Sasuke's forehead with his orange-jacket's sleeve. He then combed the young Uchiha's black hair with his fingers, and continued with cupping Sasuke's attractive pale face.

Heh. His blond looked so endearing when worried.

In between his quick breaths, Sasuke managed to mutter a sweet greeting. "Hi... angel... face..."

Naruto, in his embarrassment, pulled one of Sasuke's bangs. "Unbelievable. Short of breath and you still have it in you to flirt."

By this time, Sasuke's harsh panting had decreased. Boy, did water sound like an ingenious idea right now.

"You thirsty, ducky?" Huh. Honestly, why even bother being surprised about Naruto's mind-reading-psychic-fortune-teller skills.

"No... I'll be... fine." Taking one last deep breath, Sasuke caught up with his breathing.

"So you actually ran from your house to here?" Naruto thumbed Sasuke's cheek to comfort the latter. Sasuke closed his eyes and revelled under Naruto's soft hands.

"Hmm. Yeah." Sasuke then instinctively nuzzled Naruto's hand.

"You're crazy. You know that right?" The blond, much to the older boy's chagrin, released his hold of the Uchiha's face and stood up, wiping the dirt off his knees in the process.

Hn. Crazy about you, maybe, Sasuke mentally continued. He cringed at his cheesy thought process. It was a good thing he didn't say that out loud. Naruto would never let him live it down. "I wanted to see you." Sasuke followed suit and stood up from his previous sitting position.

"Can't get enough of me, huh?" Naruto winked as he teased.

"Regrettably, yes. I need a little stupidity in my life too, and you're the perfect solution."

"Aww. How sweet. Go jump off a cliff, bastard."

"Jump off a cliff? But you'll miss me, moron." Sasuke retorted, not missing a beat. As if what he just said was a given.

"Miss you? Get over yourself, you egotistic ass."

The blond smiled at his (yes. _His_) Uchiha bastard. He stepped closer to Sasuke's taller built, resting his head on the Uchiha's broad shoulder. God, Sasuke smelled so fantastic, even after sweating like mad."What are you doing here, Sasuke?"

Sasuke wrapped his arms around Naruto's slimmer waist. "I told you, I wanted to see you."

"Your father doesn't like me. I would imagine him asking you not to see me again." Naruto stated matter-of-factly. Once again, the Uzumaki was right on the dot.

"He can go fuck himself for all I care." As Sasuke said this, Naruto pulled his head away, looking gobsmacked. Sasuke's arms refused to let go, so the blond couldn't really get away from the other so easily.

"Did I hear you correctly? Did you just say, and I quote, he can go fuck himself for all I care?"

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow at the look Naruto was giving him."Yeah. That's right. So?"

Naruto buried his head in Sasuke's neck and bawled with laughter. Imagine, the littlest Uchiha standing up against mean-ol' daddy Uchiha. It was priceless.

"What's so funny?" The raven-haired teen lightly nudged Naruto with his chin.

"Ahaha! Nothing. It just surprised me is all." Not soon after replying, Naruto rained feather-light kisses along Sasuke's neck.

"Mmmm. Don't stop." Sasuke whispered; but contrary to what Sasuke directed, Naruto stopped. "Blockhead...", the young Uchiha growled in frustration.

"What happened after I left yesterday, ducky? Did I get your father angry with you?" Naruto looked up, the visible lines of worry appearing on his cherubic face.

Sasuke sighed. He might as well answer or else Naruto would start blaming himself. "It wasn't you that got him angry with me per se. It was more of me getting him angry at me actually."

Naruto tilted his head in the way puppies do when confused. It had Sasuke kissing a whiskered-cheek in an instant.

"He was actually just being his normal demanding self after you left yesterday. I was the one that riled him up. I fought with him this morning." The memory of this morning's proceedings brought a sour look on Sasuke's face which went not unnoticed to his blond companion.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Naruto swayed their bodies, simulating the comforting gesture of a mother trying to soothe a crying child.

"I just hate my family; my father, especially." Sasuke tightened his arms around the boy who has captivated him in every way. The young Uchiha sighed. He shouldn't be burdening Naruto with his problems like this.

Naruto, noticing the pause in Sasuke's confession, urged the other to continue. "Go on. I'm listening. Say what you have to say. I don't mind."

"I guess I just got fed up with all the shit they ask me to pull. It's hard and I'm tired of being a trophy. At first, I was okay with it. I wanted their praises so I didn't mind twisting every which way to please them. But then..." Sasuke rested his head on top of Naruto's blond locks.

_"And for the record, my name is not dumbass! It's Naruto, you jerk!"_

Sasuke chuckled at the memory. "But then I met you, an annoying dumbass, and everything changed soon after that."

Naruto kept silent (not even reacting to the name-calling), very much willing to listen and not to disturb Sasuke's monologue in any way. Sasuke was actually very grateful about that. The unloading of emotional baggage was refreshing. He, unknowingly, needed this.

"This morning, I ended up cursing him. He went on and on about the family name and all that jazz. How I was being impudent and a disgrace; and I just snapped. I mean I was angry at him to begin with because of yesterday and he goes and adds fuel to the fire. Plus, what he was asking of me was just impossible."

Naruto pointedly looked at his older companion. "What did he ask?"

Sasuke smirked at the blond. "You already know, blockhead."

"I do? Remind me." Naruto childishly pouted.

Sasuke tightened his embrace and buried his head at the area where Naruto's neck and shoulder merged. Immediately, the sweet smell of the blond assaulted Sasuke's nose. "I don't think I can ever be away from you any more, Naruto."

"Ah." A short sound of acknowledgement was all Naruto could utter. That's right. Sasuke's father deemed him unworthy company.

They spent the next couple of moments in that position, simply enjoying the other's presence. In all honesty, it was in these times when one is deprived of something, one begins to cherish the instance of reunion by tenfold.

"Is that why you ran here? What happened to your car, Sasuke?" Naruto started to play with Sasuke's soft spiky tresses.

"Heh. Funny story. My father decided to have his faithful employees take all the cars from our place. A measure to keep me from seeing you. Now, every time I need to leave the house, I have to ask for his permission. Then, and only then, will he call for whoever bastard is keeping the cars to come pick me up. Oh, and by the way, I have to have a chaperone as well." Sasuke purred at Naruto's gentle petting.

"Hehe. A chaperone, huh? That makes me the suitor then?" Naruto giggled at the mental image of Sasuke wearing a Victorian dress. It was also hilarious that Sasuke's default expression whenever Naruto imagined the Uchiha's face was that of a scowl.

Sasuke bit Naruto's neck. Not too hard a bite to seriously hurt the blond, but enough to make him feel a minute amount of pain. "No! Shut up, dumbass." Sasuke then licked the spot he bit as a silent apology.

"Haha! Me thinks the lady doth protest too mu-" Not letting Naruto finish the jibe, Sasuke pushed the blond against the fencing, placing a knee in between Naruto's legs. With the successful pinning of the blond, Sasuke lightly grazed Naruto's groin area with said knee. The contact had Naruto arching out, which then caused the blond to brush his inner thigh against Sasuke's half-hard ... err ... Naruto would like to think cell phone. Yeah... Half-hard cell phone. Didn't make sense whatsoever but fuck logic anyway.

"Nnn. Sasuke..." Naruto mewled.

Sasuke sniggered "I am clearly not a lady, angel-face.". He then released the flustered blond from his dominating hold.

"Fucking jerk." Naruto crossed his arms. "But going back, Sasuke, if your father was so against you being here, why did he just strip you off of car privileges? I mean there's public transport. Hell, you even ran."

"I guess he was just so used to me keeping up with appearances that he thought I didn't have it in myself to commute or get to places on foot. Truthfully, if I hadn't met you, that would hold true; but tough luck for my dad, eh?" Sasuke reached for Naruto's hand and started to play with the long fingers.

Naruto, noticing the thoughtful expression on the Uchiha's face, voiced his feelings. "Sasuke, I get the impression you're not telling me the whole story." The blond was spot on yet again, but he didn't have to know. Sasuke shook his head, hoping the blond would drop the issue.

"Sasuke, tell me." Those pleading blue eyes were powerful enough to crumble Sasuke's resolve. The young Uchiha had steadily been developing a weakness for this blond.

With a sigh, Sasuke braced himself for the reaction he knew would be coming. "He threatened to disown me."

And as expected, the blond pulled his hand away from the Uchiha's grasps, looking as if he had seen the dead come back to life. "Fuck, Sasuke! What are you doing here?! Go back home!"

Sasuke glared at the suddenly frantic blond in front of him.

"I'm serious, Sasuke! I don't want you to get disowned! I'm not worth it!"

The last four words Naruto uttered had Sasuke baring his teeth. Like hell he wasn't worth it!

"Sasuke! Listen to me and go home!"

"I don't want to go back, Naruto! I hate it there!" Black eyes widened. Something had just clicked in Sasuke's mind.

Naruto placed a hand on Sasuke's cheek. "Sasuke, this is serious. Your father doesn't look like the type of man to bluff about something like this. You'd be throwing away a really good future. A future I can't even dream of having. Please go back home and forget about me." Just as the hand on Sasuke's cheek moved away, Sasuke abruptly took a firm hold of the wrist, keeping the blond in place. No way in hell would Sasuke lose sight of the blond.

"Don't ever let me hear you say those words again, blockhead. Forget about you? Really? Hell of a lot easier said than done." The grip on Naruto's wrist tightened.

"Sasuke..."

"And stop calling that place my home. It's not home. It's a fucking prison. In fact, this whole town is a god damn prison." Sasuke started to breathe heavily.

"Sasuke, calm down."

In another part of town, a particular esteemed household was just about ready to gradually put an end to their day. Last minute tidying up was being done by the maids. A father took purchase in the comfort of his personal office to address any business he might have looked over. A son sat comfortably on a cushioned armchair as he sipped from his glass of hard liquor. All seemed rather contented as the night slowly drew to a close. All except for a mother who sat fidgeting in her seat across from her drinking son.

"This place sickens me. It's suffocating and those people I call my family are no help! In fact, they make my life more miserable than what it should be!"

"Sasuke, baby, please..."

The mother twiddled her thumbs. Her son taking notice of her slight distress, called her out on it.

"Mother, what's the matter?"

"I'm sick and tired of pretending, Naruto. I don't want to live another moment being some doll my parents keep just for show." He was hyperventilating and it was starting to scare the poor blond in his midst.

"Ducky, you have to calm down. Breathe."

"Itachi, your brother hasn't come down from his room the entire day. I'm getting worried." Mikoto bit her lower lip. This was sincerely bothering her, Itachi noted.

"He should be fine, mother. He just needs some time alone to cool off. He'll be fine in the morning." Itachi, regrettably, lied. He wasn't sure his brother would come out of this funk as the same Sasuke their parents wanted. He saw the defiance in his younger brother's eyes that morning and it was enough to have Itachi worry about what was to become of his brother.

"I should go check up on him. My baby boy must be starving." Mikoto stood up from her seat and walked.

"There's nothing worth staying here for, Naruto."

_"__My parents will probably ship me off to some university. I'm actually looking forward to that. What I'd give to get out of this place; away from my place in particular."_

"Babe, slow breaths. For me, Sasuke. Slow breaths."

The almost inaudible creak of the stairs signalled Mikoto's slow ascent to her youngest son's room. "Sasuke?", she called. "Sasuke? Honey?" No response. Sasuke couldn't still be ignoring them, could he? Maybe her son was sleeping.

"You're the only thing that's keeping me sane, angel-face. Now, the only reason that anchors me to this god-forsaken place is you." A particular memory flashed across his disorientated mind.

_"We should high-tail it out of here and head somewhere else. Just drive me away. Take me away to somewhere far from this hellhole."_

"Sasuke, shhh. You're hysterical. You have to calm down." Naruto caressed Sasuke's disgruntled face.

Mikoto, once on top of the flight of stairs, called for her son one last time before she knocked on his door.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Naruto, come with me."

"Son? Are you okay? Are you hungry? I can get you some food." Mikoto furrowed her finely shaped brows. "Sasuke?"

"What? Ducky, I don't - "

Sasuke grabbed a hold of each of Naruto's forearms. "You want to get out of here, right?"

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Sasuke, please answer your door. I'm worried about you."

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Ducky, are you crazy?! I just said that because I was lost in the moment at that time!"

"Well, it makes perfect sense to me right now, Naruto. Come on. What have we got to lose?"

"Sasuke, don't make me ask Tayuya to get the master key. Honey, please answer me." Mikoto bit her thumb in anxiety. Her son wasn't responding so desperate times called for desperate measures. "Tayuya!"

"Sasuke, is your brain screwed on right?! _I've _got nothing to lose. You, on the other hand, have _everything_ to lose. Think about what you're saying, duckbutt! Tell me you're joking!"

"No I'm not, Naruto! I want nothing from my family any more. Besides, I don't want a disownment hanging over my head every time my father feels I've gone astray. That's not the kind of life I want to lead. Heh. My father will probably disown me at some point in time anyway. I want out."

With key in hand, Mikoto tried for her son a last time. "Sasuke, I know how much you dislike us invading your personal space but if you don't open this door by the time I count to three, I'm going to have to take matters into my own hands."

"Sasuke, are you sure you want this? Hell, I'm not even sure if we _can _do this."

"Trust me, Naruto."

"One."

"How will we survive? How will we eat? Where will we stay? I highly doubt anyone would employ high school drop-outs. What if it all doesn't work out? And besides, what of my dad?"

"I'll think of something. Don't worry your pretty little blond hair over that. And your dead-beat dad? Psh. Let him worry about himself for once."

"Two."

"What if one day you realize what a big mistake you've made and you won't want me anymore, Sasuke?"

"Three."

"I'll always want you, Naruto. I _need_ you."

She opened the door only to find the room dark and empty. "Sasuke?",she fretfully called out. No answer. "Sasuke?" She checked the bathroom, the closet, every little space in the room where she might find her youngest son. But alas, he was nowhere to be found. Peculiarly, all the windows in her son's room were all shut tight except for one. One window was opened to its full extent, the curtains calmly swaying with the breeze. The evening light entered the space solely through this window, making a contrast with the room's desolate ambiance. Oh no. Her son couldn't. Sasuke wouldn't have left through there. "Sasuke!"

Sasuke gently placed his forehead against Naruto's. "What do you say, blockhead?"

"...I don't know, Sasuke. It's a little hard to take in."

"Where is my son?! Find my son! He must be in the house somewhere!" Mikoto's shouts shook the walls of the household. All their house help had started to run around the house in a searching frenzy for the youngest Uchiha boy.

"Itachi, your little brother is missing! Help me find him!" Mikoto ordered her eldest son who looked completely perplexed from the chaos.

"Now's your chance, Naruto. We can start fresh somewhere else. No demanding family. No alcoholic father. No prestige. I'm willing to take that step with you. We have nothing to lose." Sasuke repeated his previous statement because it was an unavoidable truth in his eyes.

From his study, a man of influence and power sat glaring at nothing in particular. He could hear his wife shout for a man-hunt in their immediate location. The scurrying of footsteps only managed to increase his fury instead of what should have been worry. Oh no, he wasn't worried at all. His son going missing was nothing to fret over. In fact, it was something to resent. The man stood and left his study to see the damage his selfish son had caused. The whole house was in a state of panic. Reaching for his pocket, he pulled out his cellular phone. He needed to make a very _very _important call. Unbeknownst to him, his eldest son stood not too far away, suspiciously gazing at him. The son glared at the fact that his father looked a little too scheming for comfort.

Naruto chuckled at Sasuke's promises. "I can't believe I'm doing this." And with a sigh, "Yes. I'll go with you.", the blond agreed.

Sasuke, with no exaggeration, felt as if he had been freed of all tension. He had never felt as loose, as free before. With that singular 'yes' from his blond, the mist in his head had cleared.

"Oh God, you have no idea how fantastic I feel right now." Sasuke, with a huge sigh of relief, wrapped his arms around his blonds' shoulders.

"Mhmm. I bet." Naruto grinned and nuzzled his nose against Sasuke's available cheek. "So what's the plan, ducky? We can't just up and leave without a plan."

"I'll deal with the specifics at a later time. Right now, I just want to focus on us getting out of here." Sasuke let go of his embrace and paced around the area a couple of times. As he took small strides, the jewel on his chest caught the moon's light. The reflection of the gem's colour made the young Uchiha lose his mindset for a second.

"Sasuke, I trust you."

Naruto's words almost made Sasuke's knees buckle. Uzumaki Naruto trusted him. Whatever Uchiha Sasuke had in mind for them couldn't fuck up now. He would make sure of that. Sasuke brought his hands behind his swan-like neck, looking for the hook that would disengage his necklace's lock. "Naruto, c'mere."

Naruto, with a curious expression, walked towards his duckbutt bastard of a friend-slash-whatever-the-hell-they-were. Sasuke took a hand away from his unlocking and gestured for Naruto to turn around. Luckily enough, Naruto understood the soundless order and faced the other direction.

Once the necklace was off his form, Sasuke caringly put the necklace around the blonds' flawless neck, and snapped the lock closed. Naruto looked down at the stone now on his chest then abruptly faced the young Uchiha.

"I'm giving it to you. Aside from the obvious implications, I want the necklace to be a testament." Sasuke traced the jewel's smooth clean cuts with his finger.

"A testament? To what?" Naruto roughly tilted his head, allowing the necklace to sway across the blonds' lean chest. The necklace looked infinitely better on Naruto than on Sasuke. It accentuated those enchanting blue eyes, making the orbs a sight to behold despite their dull qualities.

"Naruto, I promise to be anything you need me to be. I promise to take full responsibility of you. I promise that one day we'll get somewhere. Lastly, I promise to care for you every step of the way." Sasuke internally winced. Yet again he took the coward's way out and avoided the L-word. Urgh! When would he be ready enough to admit that he loved this blond idiot?

"That's a lot of promises, ducky. You sure you can keep all that?" Despite the teasing tone in Naruto's question, the look on the blonds' blue eyes told otherwise. Naruto was voicing out his main concern. What if Sasuke messed up and broke all these promises? What of Naruto then?

"As long as I live and breathe, I'll keep every word. It will be hard at first but I'll see to it we just don't pointlessly die off somewhere, blockhead." Sasuke offered a reassuring smirk to the other.

Naruto chuckled. "Sure, ducky." There was Naruto's smile again.

Sasuke allowed himself to melt a little under that smile but once he'd regained his senses, he began to explain to Naruto the logistics of how they were to leave. "We leave Thursday night, Naruto. We're taking my car."

"I thought your dad had your car taken away."

"Remember that Thursdays are my garbage run, Naruto. I'll have a legitimate excuse to use the car. Granted, some ass will be with me but all it takes is one good punch to the nose and the guy will be out like a light bulb. We're set to go then." Sasuke could not help but be pleased with himself as of this moment. They were really going to do this.

Naruto nodded with full understanding of their conquest. The younger boy chose this moment to approach his companion, letting his long tan arms drape around the young Uchiha's neck. Naruto took this time to appreciate the overwhelming beauty of the youngest member of the Uchiha family, and directly stared into those endless black irises. In Naruto's eyes, Sasuke, no matter what the other's parents thought, was perfect.

The Uzumaki boy gave the other a small smile but was quickly replaced by a sullen pout. "Sasuke, it's not like I don't want you here with me anymore but it's getting late. Your father..."

Sasuke, unwillingly, broke free of Naruto's embrace and checked for the time. With a click of his tongue, he resigned himself to the fact that he had to leave as soon as possible. Shit. He didn't want to be separated from his dumbass just yet.

"Let me walk you home, blockhead." That was devotion, right there. Sasuke still insisted to walk the blond home even if he would possibly pay for it later.

Naruto put on a strictest look he could muster. "No, Sasuke."

"But..."

"No buts! Go, duck boy." The blond ended with a wink.

Sasuke harrumphed and, dare he say, pouted at the rejection. "I don't think I'll be able to see you in the next few days. Thursday would probably be the next time I'll see you."

"Don't be such a wuss, Sasuke. What's a few days? I'll be ready for you come Thursday." Naruto playfully pinched Sasuke's cheek.

"Hn." With a grunt, Sasuke walked away from the alley. Noticing Naruto hadn't moved from his spot, he faced the blond and quirked his brows. "Aren't you going home as well?"

Naruto waved his hand in a dismissive manner. "Go ahead. I'm staying here for a bit to just, y'know, relax."

"Hn. Okay. Get home safe. I'll see you soon." Sasuke shot a sincere smile to Naruto and proceeded back to town centre.

Now alone, Naruto took a deep shaky breath. Currently, everything was just a little bit overwhelming for him. He then took out a cigarette and placed it on his mouth. Just as he was to about to light his smoke with his new lighter, he stopped. Chuckling to himself, he returned the lighter in his pocket and threw the cigarette to the ground. He decided that he didn't need it. And there, Naruto began his journey back to his place.

"I guess it's too late now. Why even bother denying it? I've fallen for the damn bastard." The blond spoke to himself. Naruto wore an ear-splitting grin as he thought about his ducky. Yup. He was smiling by himself, resembling a lunatic on the loose. He was in love. The blond teen stared lovingly at the jewel on his neck.

_"My mom gave it to me today. It's not really a birthday gift. It's more like me having it for safe-keeping until I ... err. Sorry. Uhh. Until I decide to give it away to someone special."_

If it was even possible, Naruto's smile grew bigger in size. This feeling. He was sure there was no greater feeling than what he was experiencing now; and as he walked alone on the dark streets of the slums, he knew there was a spring in his steps.

In hindsight, Naruto should have probably accepted Sasuke's invitation to walk him home because, now, he had nothing; especially not his strong feelings of elation, to protect him of this tragedy. He was halfway through his trip back when a person grabbed him from behind. He wanted to shout for help but before he could, a cloth with the strangest sweet scent covered his means to do so. His muffled screams did very little to help him in the situation as every time he tried to call for someone, he breathed in more of the strange odour from the cloth.

Oh God, he was getting woozy. Why was it getting so dark?

"Good night, sweet cheeks."

And the unwelcomed darkness took over.

llllllllllllllllllll

"Shit!"

Sasuke had slipped off the trellis and made a small racket. Fuck. He hoped no one had heard that. Yeah. No one probably heard that. It was, much as he'd hate to admit, late. It was barely any noise but still, he reprimanded himself for it. He was aiming for a complete silence. With extra precaution, Sasuke stealthily completed his climb up the trellis, crossed the dreaded pseudo-ledge, and re-entered his room through his window.

"Uchiha Sasuke, you are one slick motherfucker." He congratulated himself in the privacy of his room. Deciding it was time to hit the sack soon, he went in to his bathroom to get ready for bed.

Downstairs, the slight outside noise from earlier went unnoticed to one particular Uchiha who looked downright unforgiving at that exact moment. He'd ordered the inhabitants of the household stop their search hours ago and retire to their rooms. The house was now doused in darkness, except for the receiving room which had one flicker of orange light radiating in the vast darkness of the room. There, the man's appearance was imposing and frightful despite his comfortably seated form. He inhaled a freshly lit tobacco, reigniting the dull flame from the burning end.

This man was not pleased. Not pleased at all. He knew his wayward son had returned. That almost inaudible bump in the wall was proof enough for him.

Using what little light his tobacco gave off, he raised a very interesting photo in his hand to eye-level and glared at the offending thing. Sasuke, his _wayward _son, indeed. He needed to fix that. No. It was his responsibility as the head of the family to fix that.

There, in his hands, was a photo of his well-regarded youngest son and the blond rat in what appeared to be a lovers' embrace.

"How does one deal with a rat problem? Simple. You leave it off for the cats to play with."

Uchiha Fugaku pointed the burning end of his tobacco at the radiant face of the blond in the photo. Slowly but surely, the picture went into flames. And as the fire kept growing, the shade of Fugaku's black eyes seemed to turn into a hellish crimson under the flames glow.

Uchiha Fugaku was a corrupt man. A very horrific, nightmarish man.


	12. Chapter 10

**A/N: **She's aliiiiiive! Ahehehe. Hi guys. Olie here. How have you all been? :D

So I started a series of ficlets to increase my visibility as an author. It's called "**Before The Worst**". Check it out! It's more light-hearted than Fast Car (for now. Muahahaha!).

I had a really hard time writing this chapter. Apart from my attempting to promote the story using Before The Worst, I just felt very unmotivated to write the chapter during whatever little free time I had. Every time I opened the file, I'd get the strong urge to press the close button and not write. Sighhh. Hopefully, the chapter is up to standards despite my small writing funk. :(

I apologize also that this took more than two weeks to write. Forgive me? D:

A little clarification before you start reading: I'd just like to make it known (if you don't know it already) that an illegitimate child is a kid who was born when both his/her parents were outside marriage.

Also, just because I made Minato a drunkard in this story doesn't mean I don't like him. I absolutely adore the guy. :)

**WARNING: **There will be unwanted manhandling in this chapter.

Anyways, here is chapter 10. Please feel free to leave a review. Pleaaaaaase! :D

Thank you to all those who reviewed in the previous chapter! It did not go unappreciated :)

**EDIT: **I saw an error that was simply just too intolerable for me to not fix until I finish the story. Sorry. Ahehe. :D

***DISCLAIMER APPLIES***

* * *

**Chapter 10**

The moan from under pristine white sheets was the tell-tale sign that a new day had begun. The morning, for a summer day, was unusually gloomy as the bright sun was covered by a mass of looming greyish clouds. Sasuke reached for his phone from under his covers to check for the time.

Ugh. What time was it?

. . .

With a flip of his phone, his dark eyes widened. 12:47PM! Boy, had he slept in. Sasuke sat up on his bed and sighed. The memories from last night flooded his mind in quick flashes.

Man. Last night was intense. He totally lost control of himself; but that's what happens when one bottles up to much pent up emotion. Sooner or later, self-restraint broke and a flood of emotion came crashing down like a tidal wave. Although, naturally, the chaos dissipated in due time and the calm took over. As he recounted the events from the previous night, a smile broke out from his lips.

He was actually leaving in a couple of days. Forgive the ineloquence, but he felt fucking amazing about that. Added with the fact that Naruto would be with him? Oh yeah. He felt abso-fucking-lutely amazing.

Had he ever mentioned that fate liked to mess with him sometimes? Yes? No? Well, it did. Right at the exact moment he felt up and above the stars, Suigetsu decided to call him. Major downer.

Ha! Fuck that stoner! Sasuke was leaving in a few days anyway. Suigetsu could release his picture to his heart's content. Sasuke wouldn't care. So with a push of a button, Sasuke ignored the caller and decided to continue ignoring the other for all eternity. Ugh. So many annoying people in his life. If he could, he'd stay locked up in his room until Thursday just to avoid all these nuisances.

Sasuke ran his hand through his soft locks. He felt particularly exasperated that he couldn't stay in his room all day. Despite his want to stay cooped up in his personal quarters, he almost hadn't eaten anything at all yesterday and he was starving. So after completing his morning rituals, he exited his room at turtle pace. Why rush yourself to an uncomfortable situation anyway?

As he closed his door, the sound of another door closing not too far away brought to his attention that he was currently not alone. Itachi stood in front of the door of the adjacent room with a book in hand. It would appear that the eldest Uchiha son had come upstairs to retrieve said book.

"Hn. Itachi." Sasuke, totally uncharacteristic of him, acknowledged the other's presence. Oddly enough, Itachi didn't respond to the greeting. The older sibling just stood there with a solemn expression on his features. Hn. Whatever. If Itachi didn't want to be nice, then he can go fuck himself. With a shrug, Sasuke walked past his older brother to gain access to the stairs.

"Sasuke, whatever happens, I want you to get out of this house and never come back." The chilling tone in Itachi's soft baritone sent goosebumps down Sasuke's spine. The younger Uchiha stilled all movement. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Did Itachi want to disown him too? Heh. Why not? It's not like his older brother's opinion mattered. "Hn." Sasuke grunted, shrugging Itachi's words off in the process.

As Sasuke made his way down, the soft creak of the stairs seemed to get louder and louder and louder (as if heralding an impending doom) as the young man approached the landing. He wondered briefly why the house felt colder today than usual.

... Something was wrong.

He just didn't know what yet but something was most definitely wrong.

"Sasuke." A subdued voice called for him. Letting his instincts take over, Sasuke followed the voice's origin. His heart was wildly beating in his chest yet it was deemed inconsequential to the young man. There was something off. He just knew it; and finding out whatever was amiss was more important than taking care of his bordering palpitating heart.

The young Uchiha entered the study, and saw his father with entwined hands in front of his older visage and with both elbows on the desk. The room, despite having opened windows, was too dim for comfort. With what little light they had, Sasuke noted the peculiarity about the items (or rather item) on his father's desk. Usually, the man had all sorts of papers and supplies and whatnot. That moment, there was only one item on the table; a cold, sleek cellular phone.

Sasuke remained silent, refusing to utter the first sound. Unfortunately, his father was equally as stubborn; and for the next handful of seconds, the room was drowned in soundless burning hostility.

Tick tock

Tick tock

Said the clock, attempting to dissuade the sparks of antagonism between father and son.

Finally, in what seemed like forever and a day (but really was only three-fourths of a minute at most), one of the two gave in and cleared his throat.

"You are still displeased with me, Sasuke." The statement was meant to be a question, but ended up being an affirmation. Why ask when the answer was painfully obvious?

It pleased the young Uchiha that he beat out his father in their childish little spat of silence. To further rub in his victory on his father's face, he continued to remain noiseless.

"Hn. You turned out to be quite the disappointment, Sasuke. And here I was actually considering giving my men a call to return your car." Fugaku took the phone on the desk and raised it to make a point.

Sasuke glared at the man he called his father. Ignore the fact that he could've had his car back if he behaved! His father just confiscated his car yesterday. Why was he considering giving it back today? It was all too suspicious.

"What did you do, you old bastard?" The curse absolutely was not taken lightly by Fugaku. After Sasuke uttered the horrendous word, Fugaku slammed both hands on the table and brusquely stood up. The red on the man's face was clear indication that, yes, he was outright pissed.

"You good for nothing bitch!"Ooh. The man was biting back so it would seem.

"Saying inappropriate words, father? How unbecoming of an Uchiha. And you're the head no less. Tsk tsk. Shame on you." A triumphant smirk made itself known on the Sasuke's face as he threw his father's words back to the man who had originally uttered them. But then, the most unexpected thing happened. Just when Sasuke thought he had won the round, his father started to laugh. Not a warm, light-hearted laugh of humour. Oh no. It was the kind of laugh that people thought could only be heard in movies. It was cold, menacing, and malicious; and it made chills run down Sasuke's back.

"Let me just say, _son_, that I think it's adorable that you're rebelling like this. You must feel like a man right now, huh?" Fugaku took great pleasure at the visual of his son snarling like a wild animal. If the boy was angry now... oh, he'd love to see his son after this one.

"You know, Sasuke, I've noticed the changes you've gone through the past two weeks." Putting his hand in one pocket, Fugaku fished for a cigar. "I noticed you left the house more frequently. I saw how you started locking yourself up in your room. You've recently found undesirable company. Now, you're starting to talk back. And it got me thinking..." During his recount of Sasuke's faults, Fugaku searched his drawers for a lighter. After finding the blasted thing hiding in back corner of one of the drawers, he proceeded to light a cigar. He took his time with the process, intentionally riling up his son with the wait. After a puff of his smoke, he continued. "It got me thinking about how you're turning up to be such a waste of my time, my money, and my space. I admit that you were outstanding with our last dinner with my colleagues, but that hardly covers for your great misbehaviour as of late."

"Tch. I guess you failed to make me into another Itachi, father." Failed. His father failed. If there was one thing his father hated, it was failing. With that one word, Sasuke had the man glaring back at him. Although in the next second, the man was back in composure.

"Oh, I didn't fail, Sasuke. I succeeded in making you a son most father's would envy having. I regret to say that you're no Itachi, but you'll suffice." Ooh. That one had to sting. "Well rather, you _sufficed, _I should say."

"Suffice? _Suffice?_ What's that supposed to mean?! After all my hard work, that's all you think of me?! For years, I tried to be exactly like Itachi just for you! And that's all you have to say?" By this time, Sasuke was shaking in ill-contained fury. The young Uchiha then unconsciously released a bitter chuckle."You know what I think? I think you're just too God damned arrogant to admit that I was actually able to be just like your precious Itachi; because no matter how many which ways I look at it, I was a perfect son." This, calling out his father like this, was exhilarating. To be able to finally say all these things was incredible.

"Don't be ridiculous, Sasuke. You? A perfect son? Please. Perfect sons never do drugs." And Fugaku successfully rendered his son speechless and looking like a gaping fish. His son was even too stunned to deny the claims.

How did that fucker know?

He used to hide his stash well. He was careful. What's more, the drugs were in his room. Despite the dysfunctionality, his family respected privacy. No one _ever _came into his room unless he said so; and he had ways of knowing if people even attempted to enter his room. So how?

How did his father know?!

"Also, I expect you to not only hear but to also listen to the words I tell you, Sasuke." Fugaku was relentless; not missing a beat as carried onto the next set of criticisms as if mentioning that he knew of his son's drug use was old news. "I corrected myself and said sufficed. Past tense, Sasuke."

"Wha—What?" Sasuke, embarrassingly, stuttered. His mind hadn't quite caught up with the onslaught of new information.

"To put it frankly, my boy, I'm very much not happy with you any more. All your faults added with the fact that you went missing last night. You must know by now, Sasuke, that I never bluff." Sasuke's eyes widened in realization at what his father just said. So his little escapade did not go unnoticed, huh? That could only mean one end result for him...

_"__Your father doesn't look like the type of man to bluff about something like this."_ The teenager internally chuckled. So it had come to this. Heh. How 'bout that?

"You are no son of mine, Sasuke." Hearing those words actually hurt more than he expected. He had thought, since he was planning on leaving anyway, that he would merely just shake it off if his father (well, father no longer) really went through with a disownment. To be the receiving end of those words, to be honest, was heartbreaking; but what was done was done, and he couldn't do anything about that any more. Sasuke knew his ex-father did not go back on his decisions; and he hardly thought Fugaku would start any time soon.

"Hn. So how did you know?" Sasuke recomposed himself and simply just asked to clarify. By this point, he really just wanted to know how Fugaku knew.

The teen needn't specify the question. Fugaku already knew what Sasuke was inquiring about; and since Sasuke was no longer an Uchiha, might as well somewhat enlighten the poor boy as a parting gift. Besides...

"Did you ever wonder why we moved out of the city in the first place?"

"Of course. What of it?"

"You never wondered where I got the money to start all these businesses when we were just a middle-class family in the city?"

"No. I kind of just thought you made it on your own. I don't understand. Where is this going, fath—Fugaku?"

Besides...

It's not like Sasuke would live long enough to spread a little gossip any way.

"I used to work underground, Sasuke. I made a lot of money working for people. Bad people. When we moved here, I didn't just build a chain of businesses. I set up this town's underworld; the very first this town has seen." It didn't take a genius to piece together the facts. With Fugaku's account, Sasuke completely understood.

Uchiha Fugaku was the leader of the local crime syndicate.

It was how the man knew of his drug-use. The men who sold Sasuke the drugs were Fugaku's people. It was also safe to assume that the people who had his car weren't workers from his ex-father's businesses, but rather, criminals working under Fugaku.

"You suit your profession quite well; a seedy corrupt job for a seedy corrupt man." Sasuke discreetly eyed the cell phone on the desk. If what he supposed was correct and the people who had his car were Fugaku's syndicates, then he needed the man's phone to regain access to the car. Getting disowned was not a major issue. Even if Fugaku hadn't renounced Sasuke of his Uchiha name, the raven-haired teen would have still left all the same. Sasuke needed to snatch that phone by hook or by crook.

The insult to Fugaku did not go unpunished; and Fugaku had the perfect ammo to completely shut his ex-brat up for good. No one bad-mouthed Uchiha Fugaku and got away unwounded, whether it be physically, mentally or emotionally.

"You flatter me, Sasuke. Such strong adjectives you describe your _daddy_." The word was said in a tone to spite. "I have great news for you. You'll be ecstatic to know that this seedy corrupt man happened to chance upon a friend of yours." Currently, Sasuke look perplexed. Fugaku couldn't wait to see Sasuke's reaction after this. "A friend you know very well."

Sasuke didn't like how Fugaku was toying with him. "What are you talking about?"

"For a genius, Sasuke, you see so very little." The man taunted. "A friend you're quite fond of. A blond _rat._" Just one utter of that word, and Sasuke placed himself in front of Fugaku. The teen, with strength he didn't know he had, harshly grabbed Fugaku's button down shirt and yanked the older man roughly. In doing so, the cigar in Fugaku's possession fell to the cold floor.

"What the fuck did you do to him, you sick fuck?!" Sasuke only got a cold wicked chuckle as a response.

"Fucking tell me or I swear I will kill you! I'll slice your neck open and kill you!" The young man was far from kidding. He would seriously hurt that sick excuse of a man if Naruto was harmed in any way. And, oh look! His Swiss army knife was conveniently placed in his back pocket! One swift grab and he could slice this swine's throat open.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Sasuke." And right on cue, as soon as Fugaku had said his response, a click of gun was heard from behind Sasuke's view.

"Hehehe. You weren't kidding, boss. Your boy is one feisty fucker." A voice Sasuke didn't recognize amusedly said.

"Zori. Waraji. I'm glad you could make it." His father calmly said. It was infuriating that even in the face of danger; the man was still so conceited. Sasuke had a knife within reach and Fugaku didn't look the least bit intimidated. Of course, having the lackeys in the area did a great deal for Fugaku's confidence.

"Heh. Not like we had a choice, boss." A second unfamiliar voice said. This one was deeper and raspier than the first.

"Hn. Stop talking and get this disgrace of a boy off of me." Fugaku pointedly stared at Sasuke. The disowned Uchiha noted the tiny glint in Fugaku's eyes. The man was mocking him. Sasuke probably should have looked back and defended himself from the two intruders rather than focusing all his hate to his dear daddy, but alas, it was too late. Suddenly, large arms took hold of Sasuke's own set of arms. The man was able to successfully lift Sasuke off the ground, effectively immobilizing the young man.

"Tell me what you did to him, motherfucker!" Sasuke twisted his body in the hopes that it would dislodge the lackey's hold. The young man really wanted to hurt his ex-father right now.

Fugaku brushed nonexistent dust from his person; after which, he took the fallen cigar and snuffed it off. Like hell a cigar that fell to the floor would ever touch Uchiha Fugaku's lips. "You'd be happy to know, Sasuke, that what I did to your rat was due to him. I am simply ... getting my end of the bargain, if you will. Whatever is happening to him presently is his own damn fault."

"Tell me what you did to him, Fugaku." Each word Sasuke uttered was said with pure anger.

"I thought I knew the boy's name from somewhere. Uzumaki Naruto. The illegitimate son of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina." Fugaku let his desk carry his weight as he half-sat on the front side of the furniture. "Minato and Kushina were struggling for money. I wasn't surprised. One was a carefree bloke, the other was a bar singer. Honestly! They should have known they would go poor. Naturally, they started to go hungry. That wasn't the only thing they had to worry about. They needed to pay for the house, the bills and, most especially, they needed to provide for their precious little son. They had no choice but to borrow money; and who better else to borrow from than the quickly rising in stature businessman?"

Fugaku took this time to pause his words. It was intentional on his part. He stopped his retelling just to see Sasuke squirm at the withheld information; and squirm Sasuke did, coupled with a low growl. The growing urge to seriously injure the immoral man was beginning to overwhelm the seventeen-year-old.

"Being the kind and compassionate man I am, I lent them enough money to get them by for a couple of months; with an agreement that they paid me back within the next five to ten years." Sasuke couldn't determine whether or not Fugaku was being sarcastic. The older gentleman had said it with such a straight face. Maybe the teen would never know. But, seriously, Uchiha Fugaku kind and compassionate? Heh. Dream on.

"You know, Minato still owes me quite a sum. He hasn't fully paid me back yet; and it's been way past the arranged time. It didn't look like the family would be fully repaying their dues soon, so I decided to collect their debt in a more reliable manner." There was something in Fugaku's expression that sent Sasuke fearing for his blond friend. The young man knew for a fact that Fugaku was not doing this because some schmuck still owed him money. The bastard was doing it to spite Sasuke.

The grim chuckle Fugaku released caused everyone, even Zori and Waraji, to cringe. "Sasuke, did you know that human trafficking is presently very in? And, what's more, returns are more than satisfying."

. . .

Had Sasuke heard his father correctly? Human trafficking?

"It's a very good thing that that blond rat of a friend of yours has pretty blue eyes and bright yellow hair. Clients will be bidding for him like mad. He's young too. Oh, Sasuke! The boy will be attracting perverts like manure to flies." Fugaku was a horrible person. The figurative comparison was definitely intended, and it was meant to aggravate the Uchiha lad. Of course, it did more than aggravate him; so much more. Sasuke felt his heart skip a beat and drop. The breath was knocked out of him and he could feel the air prickling his skin. The boy didn't even have enough bearing to utter a sound. Fugaku wouldn't... He wouldn't...

"My men have successfully taken the boy. Once I sell that pest, I'm sure the money will be enough to pay for his family's debt, don't you think?" The haughty smirk did absolutely no good to alleviate Sasuke's pain. The searing anger, the agonizing hurt, the devastating worry, all these emotions mixing together and bubbling over Sasuke's person caused him to shake and see red.

"Son of a bitch! I'll kill you! I'll fucking kill you!" Sasuke's efforts to break free of one of the lackey's hold tripled. He swung his limbs around, valiantly trying to loosen the man's hold. Sasuke needed to find Naruto. He had to find and take his car, and look for the blond before it was too late. He was reminded that Fugaku's phone was on top of the desk. Good. The phone was essential, but first, he needed to be released from the fucking moron who was detaining him.

"Waraji! Keep him still!" Fugaku ordered. Hn. So that was the name of the fucker that was holding Sasuke. "But, boss, the kid's pretty strong for his size!" Waraji answered, unconsciously letting his hold on Sasuke somewhat slip.

"Urgh! That brat is pissing me off!" The second lackey, Sasuke guessed whose name was Zori, aimed a gun to the young Uchiha's person.

It was in these moments that a person's adrenaline naturally kicked in. Sasuke, mustering up all his strength for one powerful move, lifted the lower half of his body and kicked Waraji in the groin with both feet. The pained man yelled as he unceremoniously dropped Sasuke to the ground.

"Waraji!" Screamed Zori in worry, after which, he aimed a glare at Sasuke. "Fucking brat!" Zori pointed the loaded gun to the young man who was efficiently lifting himself off the floor. Sasuke dove for the phone on the desk. The teen then took cover behind said desk for protection. Zori, being a complete nincompoop, tried to follow Sasuke's movements with his gun.

"You imbecile! Watch where you aim that thing!" Shouted Fugaku as the man ducked to avoid Zori's gun; consequently, not noticing Sasuke's phone pilfering. The lackey, in his struggled attempts to aim the gun at Sasuke's fast moving pace, unintendedly pointed the gun at Fugaku. Fixing his aim, Zori shot the desk in the hopes that one of the bullets passed through the wood and hits the annoying brat hiding behind the furniture. After ten consecutive shots, Fugaku ordered for Zori to halt in the assault.

Suddenly, a flurry of footsteps could be heard from just outside the study. "Fugaku! Are you alright?! What in God's name is going on?!" Mikoto worriedly called out as she peeked inside the study with Itachi by her side. She spotted the two hoodlums in the study; one looked pained as he was kneeling on the floor, grasping his family jewels, the other was holding a gun. She then saw her husband hunched over at the general area one of the men was pointing the gun to. As a confused third-party, Mikoto thought the men were terrorizing her husband. "Itachi, get the phone and call the police!" She ordered her eldest son, only to be ignored by Itachi. Not minding that Itachi merely brushed the urgent command aside, she tried to retaliate for her husband. She took the nearest available furniture she could - a lamp - and attempted to threaten the strangers in her home with the house article. "Get away from my husband, you fiends!" The mother of the house lifted the lamp over her head to make it seem that she would throw the item at the offenders. Waraji and Zori gazed with apprehension at the woman.

"Mikoto, stop it!" Barked the Uchiha head, irritated that his wife had caused momentary confusion to Waraji and Zori from the situation at hand.

Taking great advantage of the chaos, Sasuke shot out from behind the desk, ran to the nearest open window, and jumped out. Once he was out of the house, he didn't stop his movements. The young man landed onto the grass and stood up in one fluid motion, and began to sprint.

"Shit!" Zori cursed in surprise and stumbled on over to the window to have a clear view of the escaping boy.

"Was that Sasuke?" Mikoto gasped out. She was completely in the dark and she couldn't help but fret over her family's safety; especially for her youngest who would seem like the target for the attack.

Zori aimed the gun at Sasuke's retreating form, only to be hindered by an angered mother protecting her child.

"Stop or I swear I'll hurl this lamp at you!" She threatened.

"Bu- but..." Zori stuttered, completely confused as to whether follow his instinct to shoot his boss' brat or to follow his boss' wife. Both options seemed to have equal say on the matter. Thankfully, Fugaku made the decision for him. "Stop, Zori. We don't want to attract unwanted attention." Fugaku commanded with a stern tone.

"Fugaku, wha-?" Mikoto who was absolutely confounded tried to ask but was interrupted by Itachi mid-question. "Why is Sasuke being shot at, father?"

"That is none of your or your mother's concern." Fugaku said in a tone that left no room for argument. The man looked towards his pawns with a hint of displeasure on his features. Sasuke had gotten away. In Fugaku's opinion, Sasuke knew just a little bit too much for comfort. That problem needed to be rectified at the soonest possible moment; and the only way to shut the boy up forever would be through means of...

Well.

That didn't need to be said to know what had to be done.

"The both of you!" Zori and Waraji abruptly stood up at attention at their boss' call. "Find him. See to it that that canary doesn't sing."

llllllllllllllllllll

He had absolutely no idea where to start looking; no idea whatsoever. This made the whole search and rescue business infinitely much harder than it should be. He didn't even know where to begin for Christ's sake. For the past few minutes since his grand escape from Fugaku's study, he had been checking the most random of places. An example would be the back alley of the nearest fast food joint.

To recap, Sasuke was running for two causes. The first (and most obvious) reason: He needed to gain a considerable amount of distance away from Uchiha grounds as soon as possible. The second (most imperative) reason: He needed to find Naruto. But one could only get so far by travelling on foot, especially since he was in a desperate search for his blond.

Sasuke took his father's phone from his back pocket and checked the call logs. Whoever had his car, he was sure his father had spoken to him in the last several hours. He then decided to call the first name he didn't recognize on the list.

Hyuuga Hiashi ... No

Haruno Kizashi ... No

Senju Hashirama ... No

Idate?

Sasuke didn't know an Idate; added with the fact that the contact info was downright suspicious. Idate? Just Idate? There wasn't even a surname. The exiled Uchiha pressed call and all it took was one ring before this Idate person answered.

"Boss? What can I do for you?" The voice was young and slightly shaky. Hn. Sasuke wouldn't be surprised if his father controlled these people through fear.

Mustering up the lowest tone he could, Sasuke attempted to imitate Fugaku's voice. "Idate, remind me who has Sasuke's car. I can't quite seem to recall who. Do you have it?" The young teen hoped against all hope that Idate was the person who had the car or, at the very least, knew of the person who had it.

"Eh? Boss, Aoi has Sasuke's car. I have Itachi's." Oh, Thank the gods! Sasuke completely and utterly lucked out on that one.

"Hn." Sasuke rudely hung up, thinking that doing so would be very Fugaku-like. He browsed through the As on Fugaku's contacts. True enough, there was an Aoi on the list. Sasuke hit the call button and waited for Aoi to answer. Once again, all it took was one ring and "Hey Boss" was heard on the other line.

"Aoi, you have Sasuke's car, correct?" Sasuke said in a gruff voice.

"Yuh-huh, boss. I have it parked outside my location." Thankfully, Aoi was fooled in the same way that Idate was deceived by Sasuke's voice impersonation.

"Excellent. Have the car parked at..." Sasuke speedily scanned the area for the best landmark. "Have it parked at the complex near Ayame's."

"Ayame's? Why there?" Aoi bravely questioned. Unfortunately, this Aoi wasn't like the pushover Idate seemed to be.

"Sasuke asked to be picked up from there. Must you pry so much, Aoi?" Sasuke said in what sounded to him like the exasperated tone Fugaku used when his youngest son's performance wasn't up to par with his eldest.

"Er—uhh. Sorry, boss. Sure. What time should I be there?" The man on the other line quickly answered to assuage what he thought was his boss' rising temper.

"Be there in five minutes." And click. Sasuke hung up. He sighed in great relief. It was a good thing his bastard of a father's men were imbeciles, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to pull the things he had in the last couple of minutes.

Sasuke situated himself in a more secluded and hidden part of the parking complex. Now, all he had to do was wait. Now that his escape was briefly put on hold, he let his idled mind wander. Sweat started to pour out from his palms and his heart rate increased just enough to make him feel uncomfortable as he waited. Naruto was in trouble. Never mind that Sasuke might not possibly see the blond again. The main concern was that Naruto was being sold as God knows what to some prick. If it came down to it, Sasuke, by all means, would rather Naruto be safe even if it cost him the price of not seeing his blond blockhead. The Uchiha boy couldn't help but gnaw on his lower lip. This was his fault... Naruto was in harm's way because of him. Sasuke mentally noted that he'd beat himself up later for this catastrophe; preferably after Naruto was safe and sound in his arms. Since this was his fault, the least he could do was try to save Naruto from whoever was taking custody of the blond.

"Where the hell is Aoi?" Sasuke growled to himself. Being forced to wait was always the worst and hardest part of any activity. It was quite possible that this was the longest five minutes he had ever experienced in his life.

The roar of an engine caught Sasuke's ears, causing him to turn his head towards the part of the street that was visible from where he stood. Finally, his car was here. Aoi entered the complex and immediately parked the car into the first available space. Tch. How the hell would Sasuke knock this guy out without being noticed?

Ah, fuck it. Sasuke would just have to wing it.

The young man hastily jogged up to his car and took a glimpse at the person on the driver's seat from outside the opened window. Aoi, by either hair dye or weird genetics (Sasuke briefly remembered a certain pink-haired girl in his class), had chin-length dark green hair that spiked up at the ends. He looked to be around his early twenties. Heh. Sasuke could definitely knock this guy out. The only problem now was how...

"Aoi, I presume?" Sasuke asked as he stood just outside the driver side door.

Aoi flinched at Sasuke's voice. The idiot was just as spaced out as Naruto was.

Naruto...

The mental mention of the name caused a constricting feeling in Sasuke's chest. There was no time to waste. If he was going to forcefully take his car back, he had to do it now.

"Sasuke? Hi. Uhh. So your father sent me to pick you –"

"Will you open the door already?"

Sasuke noticed the way Aoi glared at him momentarily. In a cold voice, Aoi answered, "Of course, your highness." The driver mocked as he unlocked all the doors to the car. Once Sasuke took his place at the backseat just behind the driver's chair, the teen formulated a simple plan to put Aoi to sleep.

"Use the back exit. I'm trying to avoid someone." The young Uchiha ordered his chaperone. Aoi rolled his eyes as a response.

When the car was out of public sight, Sasuke jerked his body forward and headlocked Aoi with his left hand. Simultaneously, Sasuke used his right hand to reach and pull the emergency brakes. Aoi immediately clawed at Sasuke's arm to free himself, but his efforts were all in vain. The driver could only release a garbled mess of words before Sasuke said his parting words.

"I'll take it from here, Aoi. Thanks." And bam! Sasuke used his right hand to land a solid punch to Aoi's nose. Out like a light, the green-haired man went.

Sasuke, being such a nice guy, took his time to seat Aoi (bleeding nose and all) against the nearest accessible wall before proceeding to take the car. Revving up his engine, Sasuke left in a flash. Thus began his near impossible search for Naruto.

llllllllllllllllllll

Blue eyes slowly open from their previous slumber. Ugh. Was his body aching or what? Geez. He needed a new bed.

Strangely enough, his bed suspiciously felt like damp, cold, rough floor. What was going on here?

"Urgh..." He groaned. With blurry vision, he scanned the area. Eh? Why were there cuffs on his wrists? Wait. This wasn't his bed (hell, it wasn't even a bed. It really was the floor); and this was definitely not his room.

"Good to see your finally awake, sweet cheeks." A voice echoed across the dimly lit, empty chamber.

Where was he?

"Where... Where am I?" His voice was raspy from disuse. How long was he out for?

"That's for me to know and for you to never find out, blondie." The same voice answered.

As consciousness slowly returned to Naruto's fallen form, memories from last night came to him in rapid succession.

_"I'll always want you, Naruto. I need you."_

Naruto was suddenly very mindful of the small weight in his chest.

It was the necklace.

Sasuke gave him his necklace last night.

_"We leave Thursday night, Naruto. We're taking my car."_

What else happened? He remembered leaving after talking with Sasuke...

Then someone grabbed him and there was that weird smell.

_"Good night, sweet cheeks."_

Shit.

Did he actually just get kidnapped?

Fucking hell!

Oh no. What about Sasuke? They were supposed to leave this Thursday.

Oh God. What if Sasuke thought Naruto bailed due to cold feet?

"Hey, sucker. Take these handcuffs off of me." Naruto sat up as he growled at the person who was keeping watch. The blond swung his wrists to make the chains of the cuffs clang to get his point across to the other. Currently, both the blonds' wrists were individually chained to some protruding pipe on the wall. The stranger only smirked at Naruto's troubled form.

"God damn it! Did you hear what I just said? Let me go! I don't even know who the fuck you are!" The desperation was evident in Naruto's voice. This was not the time to be kidnapped! He was going to be expected by someone in a few days time. Alas, his pleas were all futile as his keeper only responded with a dark chuckle.

"Why are you doing this to me?" The question was sincere on Naruto's part because he had completely no idea why this was happening to him. It wasn't as if he was ransom material or anything.

His peculiar keeper, a young man who had greyish hair and wore green lip colour, advanced towards Naruto and crouched to the blonds' level. "Because, my pet, your daddy owes us a lot of money. Just think of this as you fully repaying what he owes us." The man winked at the same time licked his lips.

"Look, I've been religiously paying for whatever my family owes to anyone. I don't understand why this can't be settled in a better way." Naruto tried to reason. It was true. Whatever his family (his father) owed, he paid for as soon as he could; so why the drastic measures?

"Unfortunately, this debt is way overdue. We're talking years overdue, kid. No sense in reasoning with me anyway. I don't make the decisions here. My boss does." The man harshly grabbed Naruto's face to get a better look at the boy.

"... So what are you going to do with me?" Naruto asked, accepting the fact that whoever he was dealing with could not be convinced by words. He needed to escape on his own.

"Who knows? Probably sell you off as a prostitute or something." The blond gagged at the man's sick notion. A low chuckle sent a cold shiver across Naruto's spine. "I can definitely see that one happening, blondie." And in the next second, Naruto was pinned to the ground with his keeper straddling his slender waist.

"Get off me, you sicko!" A very wrong choice of words by Naruto.

"I'd definitely like to get off on you, sweet cheeks. You know, test the product before retail?" The man was slowly gyrating his hips against Naruto's pelvis. The blond couldn't help but cringe at the fact that he could feel the asshole's erection against his own lower region. This was disgusting.

The man let out a husky moan as he slipped a hand under Naruto's shirt while the other took hold of the boy's chained wrists.

"Stop..." Naruto breathily gasped. This was incredibly disgusting. The unsolicited pleasure was wholly revolting. It made Naruto want to vomit.

The intruding hand lightly caressed Naruto's firm chest. A finger found its way to a brown nipple and decided to toy with the nub a little. The sick pervert then decided to nip at Naruto's exposed throat. Naruto was a virgin. Although, the manhandling was unwelcomed, it (he regretfully admitted to himself) felt good. The blond swallowed a moan that threatened to escape from his mouth. No. He most assuredly did NOT want this. Only one person would be allowed to be doing this with him and it was certainly not this creeper!

"Fucking stop it! I swear I'm going to cut off your man bits of you don't stop!" Naruto, using his reserve strength, pushed the man off his restricted form. The 'oof' that came from the assaulter brought a smug smirk onto Naruto's lips. That would teach that sicko a thing or two.

"You little bitch!" Apparently, the man was not too pleased with Naruto's rejection. The sounds of a belt being loosened and, subsequently, a zipper being opened caught Naruto's attention.

No.

Not this.

Anything but this.

"I haven't had some in weeks, kid. I'll pound that tight little ass of yours. That'll teach you, you fucking tease." Naruto's custodian began to roughly open the teen's jeans. The blond started to growl to express his abhorrence for the man when...

"Sakon, lay off, would you? The boss will kill you if you touch him." Two heads snapped to the direction of the newcomer. White-hair, round glasses. Naruto had seen this man before.

"Come on, Kabuto! I'll share the brat with you if you let this one slide." The pervert, Sakon, whined and pleaded. Kabuto; the guy who sold Sasuke drugs. From the looks of it, Kabuto was the immediate superior.

"The kid's most likely a virgin, asswipe. If you fuck him, returns won't be as much. I'll just have to tell the boss that you screwed the kid. See how that goes for you." Kabuto crossed his arms and glared at his subordinate.

"Tsk. You're no fun." Sakon stoop up and, much to Naruto's great relief, left the room.

The blond released a sigh as he sat up once again. "Look, I know you didn't do it to save my sorry ass but thanks for stopping that creep anyway." Silence from Kabuto greeted the light-haired teenager. Naruto furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. Sheesh. At least say something!

The next thing that happened was totally uncalled for and wasn't in the least bit expected. All of a sudden, Kabuto was right in front of him holding him by his neck.

"Don't go around thanking me for anything, brat. Honestly, you were better off with Sakon than with me. Sakon would have just fondled you. I, on the other hand, have more violent tendencies." The malicious glint in Kabuto's eyes struck fear in Naruto's little heart. Kabuto harshly slammed the boy against the wall and let the poor lad slide down to the floor in agony. But the white-haired man didn't stop there. Once Naruto was completely down on the floor, Kabuto, to satiate his sadistic propensity, decided to kick the blond in the torso a couple of times. When the offender was finally done, Naruto was a coughing, groaning mess. What was truly abhorrent about this fact was that Kabuto made it so that Naruto didn't look physically mangled but still felt the full brunt of each attack. It made Naruto think about how much practice Kabuto had done to achieve such a feat; to completely incapacitate a victim without making the person show signs of abuse. It was terrifying.

"I suggest you rest up, kid. If you're to be sold, I want you to look pretty enough for clients to want to buy you." With that final statement, Kabuto left the premises. Naruto was now alone in a dark and dreary room, laying aching on the floor.

The darkness and silence seemed to stretch on for hours. Naruto had no way to tell if time had passed by at all as all was silent.

Then the most miraculous thing happened!

Out of nowhere, a bright light shone and a lone silhouette greeted the blond.

The next few moments were all a blur but somehow, Naruto managed to escape with his saviour. Before he knew it, he was in a familiar black vehicle, speeding in some highway. Beside him was a face he knew so very well. A person he learned to love in the last couple of days.

Sasuke.

llllllllllllllllllll

All is silent as the chilly air whispers its song into the trees. Soft promises of perpetual solace spread across the leaves, slowly creeping its way to its destination. Accompanying the soft melody is the full silver moon reaching her peak; unhurriedly preparing herself for her descent into the horizons. The enchanting beauty of the moon's light, visible on the black canvas of the night sky, cascades onto a long and winding mountain range that seemingly stretches into eternity. Awakened by the moons caress, the mountain reveals its man-made treasure; a meandering road leading to a clump of bright lights signalling a pseudo paradise for two individuals who've gone astray along life's course.

The air carrying the soft melody is left unheard by these two souls as the hum of the speeding black vehicle holding the weary travellers overpowers the tune. Endless black irises stray from the seemingly infinite road and place its attention onto a resting form showing signs of its gradual stirrings. The set of charcoal eyes catches a glimpse of dull blue ones even after the moon grants the latter her otherworldly glow. As eyes resembling the moon's canvas try to refocus its attention forward, the passenger jerks harshly, recalling the previously wavering attention back to the steadily growing excitable form.

The City.

Blue eyes stay intent on the bright lights exuding from the metropolis. The passenger hurriedly opens his window and stretches his head out; letting the chilly night air flow across his hair and enter the confines of their vehicle. Finally, the song filled with soft promise reaches the ears of its desired audience. Reassuming his previous position, the passenger fixes himself on his seat although barely able to contain his mirth. The glow of the moon blends in with the city lights and bathes both passengers with its offered comfort. A set of blue slowly direct themselves onto a set of dark ones and glitter with evident delight. Losing track of their journey and their destination, onyx eyes fall deep into the spell of shimmering blue...

No

Cornflow—

"Wake up, princess."

The blonds' eyes snapped open. Immediately, the feel of earth-shattering dread consumed his whole being and made his heart break into a million irreparable tiny pieces. This horrible kidnapping was his reality and whatever safety he managed to conjure up was all just one cruel dream his exhausted mind longed for.

Lastly, the worst implication of it all came to him as a soul-crushing blow:

He wouldn't get to see Sasuke again, would he?


	13. Chapter 11 (Part I)

**A/N: **Hi! :D

Yaaaaay! I finally updated this story! This was, by far, the hardest half-chapter I had to write. -_-" The most awkward too. Plus my little bout of apathy for FC didn't help with matters at all. But hey! At least it's here! :D

I decided to be a little sadistic and cut the chapter into two parts. Partly because it was taking me too long to write the whole chapter (Really struggled with it) so I felt bad that I was making everyone wait; and mostly because... well. You'll understand soon.

Shameless plugging: Check out Before The Worst, everyone! And keep an eye out for my extremely long oneshot (which will probably end up as a oneshot divided into parts).

Thank you for all your support so far! (Big huggles) Olie loves youuuuu!

**Warning: **I will be using the derogatory word for a homosexual man in this chapter. I do not condone this word in any way. It will only be used for story purposes. I hope I don't offend anyone. D:

Hints of attempted suicide too. :(

***DISCLAIMER APPLIES***

* * *

**Chapter 11**

**Part I**

Naruto laughed bitterly as he was, yet again, slumped against the wall with his breath knocked out of him. A resentful lop-sided grin made its way to Naruto's facade, making the boy seem like he wasn't hurt at all. The seventeen-year-old tauntingly gazed from beneath his blond fringe. "Is that all you got? Tch. Such a fucking pussy." He said, despite having a small trickle of blood coming from his lips saying otherwise.

Kabuto growled from where he stood and rushed to Naruto's side. The older man, using both hands, grabbed the teenager's shirt and lifted the boy up. "Maybe I should take up Sakon's offer and fuck you. I'll pretend that you're just some bitch. That'll teach you to be smug." The glasses-adorning man snarled.

Naruto tried to nip the Kabuto's nose to goad the latter. "Go ahead, stud. I'll moan like a bitch too if you want." The blond licked his lips for added effect and released a scandalous moan

"Fucking fag." Kabuto glared and dropped Naruto carelessly to the floor. "That just cost you your dinner, slut." The man snappily faced the other direction and left the room, slamming the door in the process.

Naruto sighed and rested his head against the wall. That trick he just pulled was definitely a huge gamble. The teen had a feeling that Kabuto was straight to a fault; so he decided that in order to have the violent man leave the room, Naruto had to 'play' with the man a little.

"Well, fuck me. Now, I'm going to starve. Big effin' whoop." Naruto groaned as he closed his blue irises. To be honest, Kabuto initially came in to the prison-like room with a pleasant (well, relatively pleasant in comparison to the moment they had met) demeanour. The man had awakened the blond teen up to announce that dinner would be provided shortly. What really provoked the criminal to beat the teenager up was, in all honesty, all Naruto's doing.

"It felt so real..." The blond whispered to himself, referring to his realistic fantasy. The desolation that came from realizing that his mind was just playing a cruel trick on him caused him to snap at Kabuto and backlash. What could have been a somewhat peaceful exchange between two people became a one-sided brawl. "Guess I shouldn't have called the guy a kiss-ass mutt and spat on him." The boy tried to make light of his situation by forcing himself to laugh; but no matter how hard he sought to forget the overall pain, it was all to no avail. His body was freshly aching and his heart still felt the lingering stabs of cold sorrow.

Heh.

Actually, he didn't mind the bruises and bumps he acquired from his violent keeper; at least, those healed in a few days time. Matters of the heart, however, took what would feel like an eternity for someone who had experienced it.

Whatever radiance was in Naruto's eyes slowly left the blue orbs, and all that remained was a shell of what could have been beautiful sparkling windows to the soul. "Sasuke..." He breathed out, hoping that that alone could make the person he loved miraculously appear by his side; so very much like his dream.

llllllllllllllllllll

Sasuke growled in his car. He was starting to show clear signs of desperation. The harsh shaking of his hands was the least of his worries as of the moment. Everything was not, by all means, going as planned. He was foolish to think that things would go incredibly smoothly; that he just had to wait for Thursday and all would be well from then on out.

By God, was he a fool.

He had his father's goons chasing him down like he was an escaped convict. These people would kill him once they had their hands on him. If Sasuke wanted to save Naruto from this injustice, he had to find the blond fast before those criminal found and killed the young Uchiha. Seemed simple enough but no; far from it actually. Sasuke had no flipping idea where to look. He had been randomly searching the town for the past couple of hours. It was a miracle how his father's men haven't found him yet.

"Oh God, please. _Please _just let me find him." It was in these moments of bleakness that a person would ask for something, _anything _that could possibly help the situation. Sasuke, although generally held a completely ambiguous stand on religion, pleaded.

"Let me find him."

Sasuke gripped his steering wheel and slammed on the accelerator. He decided to do another round around town. But honestly, if all the tens and hundreds and thousands of times he circled town proved to be futile, what would make this round any different? And as all light disappeared in the sky, all hope of ever finding Naruto was slowly dissipating.

Sasuke needed a miracle; but what were the odds of him ever getting one?

In a more sketchy part of the slums, a man of deadly aura was currently speaking with a skinny dubious-looking male. "Let me see the boy." A man with eyes the colour of the blackest night ominously glared at the lanky wrongdoer that was keeping watch.

"Wh- who the fuck do you thi-think you are?! We don't take orders from nobody!" The person in watch tried but failed miserably to intimidate the stranger.

"What you just said would imply that you do actually take orders from anybody. Would it not?" The intruder smirked. Sometimes, it really was a great advantage to deal with dim-witted individuals.

"...What?"

The man ran his fingers through his jet black hair as a means to relieve himself from the aggravation the guard was bombarding him with. "Let me see the boy you're keeping. Do it and nobody gets hurt."

The guard on shift snarled and pulled out a knife from his holster. "You piece of shit! You think you can just waltz here and give me shit? Back off, pal! Nobody gets to see the kid we're keeping. Now, unless you're here to top any of the offers we've been getting for the kid, I would say you scram!"

The daunting individual nonchalantly eyed the knife like it was nothing. "Hn. You obviously don't know who you're talking to, lackey."

llllllllllllllllllll

"Hey, you little fuck." Kabuto viciously held Naruto in place against the wall. The teen barely had enough energy to grunt out in pain. He was just so tired.

"Answer me when I talk to you, brat." The keeper, yet again, slammed the poor boy to the wall, causing the lad to hit his blond-coloured crown to the hard surface. "The fuck do you want, Kabuto?" The boy weakly whispered as he stared at the man with deep sorrow in his blue eyes.

Kabuto unforgivingly gripped Naruto's face as he shot the boy an unkind grin. "There. That wasn't so hard was it?"

"Fuck you..."

SLAP!

Naruto simply chuckled at the burning pain that came from the hit. There was no point in complaining about it so why bother? All that there was left to do was to silently take whatever these schmucks threw at him.

"Look what you made me do, princess. Now you have that horrible mark on your face." In mock concern, Kabuto lightly caressed the growing redness in Naruto's cheek. The gesture only seemed to make Naruto glare at the man in sheer hate. "You really are a bastard." The blond rasped out.

"Don't make me hit you again, kid." The hand petting Naruto's pained cheek stopped its motion and tensed. The teen closed his eyes in anticipation of the blow that was to come.

. . .

Blue eyes slowly opened in curiosity. A strike to the lad never came.

"Much as I want to beat the hell out of you, faggot, I really can't. Apparently, someone is here to see you." The keeper let go of his tight hold on the teen and made motions to leave the room. Just before the custodian left the dark quarters, he muttered one order. "If you so much as say or show that we've been treating you unkindly, I'll have your head for it." And out the door went Kabuto.

Naruto could only keep a very frightened expression on his face. If someone was here to see him then that would mean...

The blond adolescent began to uncontrollably shake. This was it, wasn't it? He'd be slaved off to some creep for the rest of his life. Tears gathered at the corner of his dim eyes. He didn't want this. He'd rather die than have that kind of life; so in desperate attempt to save himself from this hell, he took a large intake of breath and forced himself to stop breathing.

Yes.

He was actually trying to kill himself.

If he was lucky, he'd be dead before whoever was here to see him came through those doors.

In half a minute, Naruto started to feel the slight discomfort of lacking oxygen intake. After fifteen more seconds, tears began to involuntarily fall down his cheeks; his body was showing physical characteristics of panic. A full minute passed and the burning pain in his lungs made him want to vomit. The urge to breathe was almost unbearable. He mentally cheered himself on. Just a little bit more and pain will no longer be something he had to deal with.

A minute and five seconds passed.

A minute and ten.

His chest hurt.

A minute and eleven.

His body was becoming desperate for air.

A minute and twelve ...

Come on. Ignore the pain.

A minute and thirtee—

He let out an audible gasp.

Immediately, the feel of utter disappointment washed over him. He hated how he was being weak. Now, he had to do the whole process all over again. With another intake of his (hopefully) last breath, he restarted the count.

"Much as I find your attempts at suicide entertaining, it became quite old a few seconds back." Naruto jerked in shock at the voice. When had someone entered the room? Shit. If there was someone in the room, then this must be the person Kabuto was referring to. Fuck! And he hadn't successfully killed himself yet!

"Stay away from me, asshole." The blond took a defensive stance despite his being in chains. He was at a great advantage. Other than the obvious given that Naruto was restricted, the room was also nearly pitch black. He could barely make out the silhouette of the person in his vicinity.

"That's not very nice of you, Naruto." The stranger stepped closer, proven by the soft sounds of footsteps. The blond pressed his back firmly against the wall in the hopes that maybe it would swallow him and get him out of his prison. "I'm warning you! Stay back!" It wasn't really that much of a threat by anyone's standards.

The footsteps halted and the person was close enough that Naruto could vaguely see the man's face.

"...? Sasu—No. Who?" The intruder's face baffled Naruto's disoriented mind. This person...

"The name's Itachi."

This person looked a lot like Sasuke...

"Who are you?" The blond cautiously asked this Itachi person. Just because the guy looked like Sasuke most definitely did not mean he was Sasuke.

"Really... We're wasting time with all these 'who am I' nonsense. Just trust me." Itachi made motions to undo the chains on Naruto's wrist. Much to the man's irritation, the blond boy merely pulled away from the offered help. "Answer me. Who are you?" Naruto glared. He couldn't trust anyone at this point in time. What if this man was just another creeper like the rest of the guys outside the room?

"My name is Uchiha Itachi." With the simple mention of his last name, Naruto's eyes widened in recognition. "I am Sasuke's –"

"You're the perfect brother." Naruto finished for the other.

"Hn. You could say that, yeah." A snigger was the boy's response to Itachi's affirmation. This was a person from the Uchihas alright. It would seem that 'Hn' was a legitimate word for that particular family.

"We don't have much time, kid. Give me your wrists." Itachi hastily ordered the boy. Thankfully, Naruto obeyed and offered both his wrists to Itachi.

"What the hell is going on? How did I get into this mess? What's more, how the flip did you get in here?" Naruto began to spazz out at the other. Itachi was swift in the unlocking of Naruto's cuffs; to think that his lock opening skills were put to great use after all. Once the click of the lock was heard, Naruto immediately grabbed hold of the elder Uchiha and silently probed for the answers he was seeking.

"Long story short, my father is the local leader of a crime syndicate and he's hiding in this town. My father is strict about family reputation so he sent his brainless minions to get you because you, oh sweet blondie of my brother's, have been hanging around Sasuke far too much." Itachi smacked Naruto's hands away just after he ended his explanation.

Naruto growled out due to both pain and annoyance. "If you knew your dad was a crazy bastard then why didn't you warn Sasuke?"

Itachi rolled his eyes. "I'm not even supposed to know my father is a criminal. Also, it's not like Sasuke would believe me." Naruto nodded his head in silent agreement at Itachi's second reasoning. "Thirdly, I had no idea my father would go as far as to kidnap you and to have Sasuke killed."

Itachi probably shouldn't have said that.

"HE WHAT?!" The blond stupidly blurted out.

"Be quiet!" Itachi hit the Naruto upside the head for the latter's utter idiocy. On cue, a knock came at the door. "What's going on in there?" It was Kabuto. Both persons in the room suddenly became rigid as the click of the door being opened resounded. Naruto apprehensively closed his eyes and tensed his shoulders. This was it. They were going to get caught. They were going to get caught, tortured, and killed. What's worse was that Sasuke was out there facing the same danger.

This was my fault, Naruto scolded himself. He and Sasuke were in this situation purely because of his doing. He successfully ruined Sasuke's life and he hoped that Sasuke could ever forgive him.

The creak of the door slowly being opened just about stopped Naruto's beating heart.

"I thought I told you I didn't want to get disturbed, Kabuto!" Itachi's voice was loud, demanding, and downright petrifying. The door was immediately discontinued of its movement and was shut in a blink of an eye. "Please forgive me, Mr. Uchiha. I will leave you to your business now." The voice, although sounded truly apologetic, was extremely suspicious. Naruto couldn't describe it. There was just something off about the way Kabuto said it. And as few select people would know, Naruto was exceptionally good at going with his gut feeling.

"We don't have much time. Kabuto will be back soon, and he won't be as yielding the next time around." Naruto was impressed. Apparently, Itachi caught on to the dubiousness of Kabuto's toning.

"Is Sasuke—"

"Sasuke is fine. Naruto, worry about yourself for now. It is imperative that you listen. As of right now, we are located just at the edge of town; the opposite side of the interstate highway. Few residences here and there; just enough for you to stealthily escape. Once I open the door, you wait for my signal. When you hear it, I want you to run as fast as you can. Head straight down the hall and turn right at the last corridor you see. The entrance will be there; and you run like hell." Itachi noted the way Naruto looked pale in fright as the boy tried to take in as much information as he could. The oldest Uchiha son fished for something in his coat pocket with his right hand while his other took a firm hold of one of Naruto's clammy hands. "Take this with you. This'll get you by for the next couple of weeks." Both Naruto's eyes and mouth went agape at the wad of cash Itachi placed upon his palm.

"Wha-?" Naruto did not even have the chance to properly utter a word when Itachi cut him. "Are you ready?" The striking Uchiha questioned. All Naruto could do was nod, clearly overwhelmed by the fast pace of the events. Itachi then brought out his cellular phone and quickly typed out a message. After pressing send, the older Uchiha promptly pulled Naruto to the door.

"Itachi." Naruto weakly rasped the name out. Itachi arched a manicured brow in a show of impatience. They were in a rush here! Where was Naruto's sense of urgency? "Thank you. Really." The blond offered the man a kind smile.

The Uchiha acknowledged the show of gratitude with a smirk. "One more thing, kid." Itachi brought out a pair of goggles and handed them to the blond. "Wear this." After Naruto did what he was told, Itachi brought out another pair of goggles and put it on himself.

... Weird.

"Once you're out of here, go to some place where Sasuke will most definitely find you. He'll be there. Tell Sasuke to go to the city. Our father is a wanted criminal; he will not follow you there"

The next few seconds were all a blur to Naruto. One moment Itachi was securing his own set of goggles, and in the next, Itachi was out the room.

Shit! Naruto forgot to ask what the signal was! God damn it! He was so stupid! This was just brilliant! Of all the fucking shitty luc-

BOOM!

The terrifyingly thunderous sound had Naruto dropping to the ground and taking cover. After the ground and walls stopped shaking, Naruto decided to make a break for it. Hell, if that wasn't the signal then he didn't know what was.

Outside the room, a cloud of smoke blocked all visual of the entire location. Itachi was nowhere to be seen or heard. The sound of people screaming and coughing was the only means to know that there were individuals just ahead of Naruto's position. Common sense had the teen covering his nose and mouth with his jacket sleeve.

Naruto's body was ached and sore. He was tired, hungry, and scared; but with newfound determination, he harnessed all he could muster from the adrenaline and made a wild dash to the general direction of the exit.

llllllllllllllllllll

_Naruto is safe for now. I told him to go to a place where he knew you'd find him. Go to him, Sasuke._

Sasuke stared unbelievingly at the text his brother just sent him. Had Itachi actually successfully saved Naruto? Was this for real? Itachi?! He checked the contact information another time just to be sure.

The disowned Uchiha boy shook his head. Whether it was true or not, it was the only thing he had. He quickly replied to the Itachi's message while driving his car down a slightly busy street. He pressed send and did an incredibly dangerous U-turn which had cars honking at him like mad.

_Thank You, Itachi._

He had texted back to his brother; and for once, it was truly heartfelt. Maybe he was wrong about Itachi. If this proved anything, anything at all, then Itachi was actually the only other person in his family who truly cared for him.

Sasuke went way over the suggested speed limit and overtook every car the blocked his way. He was driving with a clear purpose. Naruto was safe. His blond was _safe; _and he would be seeing the dumb blockhead soon.

Yes.

Soon.

Because Sasuke knew _exactly _where to find Naruto.


	14. Chapter 11 (Part II)

**N/A: **Whoo Boy! Was this WAY overdue. Can't tell you how writing this one had me squeezing my brain out every which way just to get them plot juices out. Hello everyone! Olie has finally posted part II of Chapter 11! Yay! I'm truly very sorry for its great delay. Hopefully, ya'll haven't given up on this story yet.

Just a little note: Slum areas (in my country at least) are usually overpopulated with people at all times. So just thought I'd give a little heads up to help with imagery and whatnot.

Another little heads up: Ya'll are gonna hate me for this chappie. I can tell. Haha! Also, it's a little short considering the time it took me to get this out (I'm so very sorry about that!). Hopefully, the chapter leaves an impact to make up for its lack of length (ugh. I should use better words. "Lack of length"? Really?!) Personally, I like how this turned out despite the difficulty I had with writing the whole chapter.

So without much further ado, I give you Part II of Fast Car's Chapter 11. Hope you like it!

Not beta-read and simply self proofread. Errors are most definitely in there somewhere. Sorry!

***DISCLAIMER APPLIES***

* * *

**CHAPTER 11**

**Part II**

His legs were starting to burn from his nonstop running; but it wasn't as if he had any other choice. He would dare not stop lest he be recaptured and be given a more devastating punishment for his escaping. The blond managed to find a small side street to seek refuge in.

"How in God's name did I get into this shit..." He gasped out as he slid down the street's wooden fencing. He buried his face into his arms and rested (because, God, he needed a breather). Just as he was about to relax his tense muscles from the stress, he heard a series of scurrying about on the street perpendicular to the one he was currently resting in. Like a cat being doused with cold water, Naruto instinctively jumped and dove for the nearest hiding place he could find.

"The brat's gotta be around here somewhere! Honestly! How can you people lose a blond brat?!" A gruff voice said just a few metres away. Naruto attempted to make himself smaller by pressing his crouched form against the small bin he sought purchase in. To his dismay, the distinct sound of approaching feet seemed to come closer and closer.

Shit.

If that son of a gun came any nearer, Naruto would be spotted.

_Thud_

Oh God.

_Thud_

If he got caught now, all his and Itachi's efforts would be for nothing.

_Pic-Pic-Pic_

A pebble came skidding to his direction, halting just beside his foot.

The tap-tap-tap of footsteps was so uncomfortably near that blue eyes couldn't help but close.

Naruto held his breath.

For a split-second, the blond considered making a mad run for it. Because, fuck. He just wanted to get out of this situation as soon as possible.

A shadow fell upon the ground beside his hiding spot; and by this point, Naruto prayed for a miracle.

_Thud_! His heart screamed. For a moment, the young man couldn't help but marvel at the familiar sound of his chest thumping to that beat. It was funny. The situation now was so different compared to the first time he had experienced the rapid pulse.

Ugh. Boy. What he would give to see Sasuke's annoyingly pretty face right now...

Naruto opened his eyes just in time to see a hand cautiously reach into his space.

Fuck. This was it huh?

Heh. Ducky definitely owed him big time for all this.

"Hey!" A voice shouts from a considerable distance. The hand immediately retracted. "Yeah?" Naruto shivered at the response. The proximity of the man was too close for comfort, judging from the volume of the reply.

"Stop falling behind, idiot! Get a move on already!" The make believe boss ordered. Naruto sighed at the heavenly sound of men making a departure. When the blond deemed it safe to move, he crept out his little sanctuary and took a few moments to compose himself. He lightly grasped his chest, noting how the thuds were slowly lessening in intensity.

Now that he thought about it, when _was _the first time he felt the thuds his heart made?

Naruto stood up, dusted his jeans, and proceeded to jog away. In hindsight, mobilizing in such a situation without focus was downright brainless. The boy made a sharp turn to the next street after briefly skimming area if the coast was all clear. At least he had enough concentration to take even the smallest precaution.

Hmm. The first time was...

_"Naruto I... Naruto, I think..."_ Naruto remembered Sasuke struggling to reveal something that night. That night was... Ah yes. The blond recalled now. A small smile became present on the young man's endearing face. That was the second time he and Sasuke had met at the alley; the day Naruto found out that Sasuke was an Uchiha. The two were still starting to get to know each other that time. Naruto snickered at the fact that even though it had only been a few weeks, it felt like he had known that little asshole friend of his for the longest time. He fondly reminisced the tiny details about that particular day - the chill of the summer night, their little bouts of banter, the smell of the intoxicating smoke radiating from his guilty pleasure, hearing about the Uchihas for the first time, Sasuke's little curiosity about his precious guit—

Naruto skidded to a halt.

His guitar.

The guitar his mother gave him.

He had to get his guitar.

But...

It was still at his place.

His place which was completely in the other direction.

Fuck!

Never mind that it was totally out of the way. Firstly, it was for sure that the bad guys would be posting themselves there!

The rational part of his mind heavily scolded him for being so impractical. He _needed _to get his ass out of town. Sasuke was waiting for him. They were both leaving. It was with those thoughts that Naruto continued with his pace.

He had to get to Sasuke as soon as possible.

. . .

However

Not five seconds later from the continuation of his journey, did he face the other direction and sprinted down the street.

llllllllllllllllllll

"We're sorry, boss! We didn't think—"

"That's the thing! You stupid imps DON'T think!" Fugaku chucked the whiskey glass in his hand to the wall. The sound of shattering glass caused the lackeys to shiver with fear. And why wouldn't they be scared? They'd managed to lose their one and only captive. The syndicate leader eyed each man in the room. Pathetic. They all adorned appalling red eyes and most of them were coughing or sniffling away their disgusting mucous.

"I can't believe this! How can a group of fully grown men lose one teenager! He was in chains for God's sake!" The booming voice of the Uchiha family's head seemed to shake the walls of the wreckage of what used to be his study. Having to deal with inept men, ordering an all out man hunt for not only one brat but now two, this whole ordeal in general was starting to give the man a migraine. "Get me another glass of whiskey." He ordered the closest grunt. Response time was impeccable because in a snap of finger, said grunt was out of the door and getting his boss the desired alcoholic beverage.

"Explain to me how this happened, gentlemen. Tell me why and how that vermin got away." Fugaku sighed as he sat down on the miraculously still intact office chair. A chilling silence ensued. No one dared answer because, truthfully, no one knew what had happened. One minute they were in position as they were instructed to, then squabbling around in smoke the next minute. The clinking of ice against glass broke the tense quiet. The grunt apprehensively handed the drink to his employer before returning to his previous position.

"We don't know, bo—"

"Wrong answer."

Another bout of deathly silence.

If one listened close enough, one could hear the strong synchronised erratic beating of the group of lackeys' hearts, a few gulps caused by fret here and there, and a handful of fearful exhales of air.

"It was your son."

Finally, someone broke the silence.

Everyone's eyes shot to the entrance where they found a figure leaning in obvious physical discomfort over by the door frame.

"My son?" Fugaku glared. "You let Sasuke get in the premises, Kabuto?"

Kabuto pushed his glasses up and fixed his stance. He had to make himself look presentable if he wanted his boss to listen to what he had to say. "Surprisingly enough, it wasn't your baby boy, sir." Where he got the marvelous of idea of taunting his employer was a mystery. It was definitely a bad idea on Kabuto's part because not soon after he finished his sentence, the click of a gun resounded from just metres away.

"It would do you well to know that making jibes like that gets you a bullet in between your eyes, Kabuto. If you were really any smart, you'd stop fucking around." Uchiha Fugaku was not pleased and usually a displeased Fugaku meant a death in the immediate vicinity.

"My apologies, sir." Kabuto really was always the smart one of the bunch. Fugaku lowered his gun and relinquished his aim. It made him giddy to know that his men knew where their places were; and if they became out of line, well. Their fate depended on how generous their kind, considerate boss was feeling at that particular moment.

Returning to the issue at hand, Fugaku incredulously eyed his glasses-adorning pawn. "You are accusing my eldest son to be the cause of all this mayhem?" It couldn't be! Firstly, because Itachi didn't _know_. Secondly, hypothetically speaking, even if Itachi did know, he would never deliberately go against his father. Itachi was perfect. He would never do this!

"I know this to be true, sir. He went inside the boy's chambers. Your son was acting rather suspiciously but I did not apprehend him as I knew his standing. I was too late to find out about his treachery. He managed to beat me down for his escape, sir." Kabuto answered without losing a beat.

The Uchiha sneered at the abrupt response to the query. Kabuto must be lying! "Can any one of you schmucks confirm this? Was my boy allowed access to the premises?" Fugaku need not hear the answer. Judging from the dawning clarity in every one of his men's faces, it was in fact true that his eldest son had been inside the hideout.

This was probably the closest Fugaku had ever been to feeling the pain of heartbreak.

No.

He refused to believe his men.

Itachi would never willingly do this to him.

Someone must have put his son up to it.

Fugaku reasoned with himself. He couldn't find it in his heart to even accuse Itachi of such a betrayal. The mind, when faced with such an incomprehensible notion, tended to reject the truth and geared towards a more acceptable concept.

Sasuke.

Sasuke must have poisoned Itachi's mind somehow.

"All of you!" Fugaku screamed, making all the occupants of the room stand at attention. "Look for Sasuke. I want him dead at all costs. And once he's dead, bring his corpse to me. Extend this order to Zori and Waraji."

"Yes, boss."

llllllllllllllllllll

Sasuke hastily stalled his car in one of the obscure apartment buildings that littered the ratty neighbourhood. My God. That was a close call. The boy let his head loll against the head rest. Shit. If he hadn't just manoeuvred his car in every which way he could, one of his father's goons could have seen him through the windshield. Unfortunately, tricks like those ended up being double-edged swords. Although he avoided being seen, the stunts he pulled warranted attention and was deemed suspicious behaviour. Therefore, his car, Sasuke knew for a fact, was being tailed.

The disowned Uchiha killed his engine and proceeded to exit his car. If he wanted to get out of this town safe, he needed to do some minor precautionary procedures. He took out his Swiss Army knife and flipped out its screwdriver. First things first. He had to take out his plate number and switch it with some other poor schmuck's plate because that was the best he could do at the moment. With expert hands, Sasuke quickly did away with the plate numbers found in front and at the back portion of his car. The boy scanned the area in search of another car he could steal from. He ran towards the exit and stealthily peered out onto the street. Luckily, parked right at the end of the small residential road was what looked to be an abandoned Volkswagen Bug.

As the lad hastily made his way towards the Beetle car, he spotted a red cap flapping against the wind on one amongst an array of clothes lines. That might actually come in handy, he thought. As soon as he was sure that the particular house did not have a pet dog, he jumps over the wire fencing and snagged the red cap. The small article was still slightly damp but Sasuke had to make do. At least he managed to acquire a disguise, no matter how simple the cover up was.

Now that that matter was over and done with, he continued his pacing towards the aforementioned Beetle. With a little flick of the wrist and a little tap, Sasuke successfully detached the plate numbers.

"Perfect." He whispered to himself before jogging back to the parking lot. He made quick work with attaching his 'new' licence plate. Not before long, he was ready to roam the streets once more. Hopefully, his little efforts of precaution didn't go to any waste. As the lad started the engine, he placed the cap on top of his head; now, he felt just a little bit safer.

Sasuke passed across the main road and on to another residential area he was not familiar with. Great. He managed to get himself lost at such a crucial time. Judging from the looks of the surrounding houses, he was entering into a more 'neglected' part of this side of town.

The young man exhaled a curse. Where the hell was he?

Going with his gut feel, he randomly takes a right turn and headed straight. Maybe he could find a landmark he was familiar with somewhere. He slowed down slightly as he came across a little hump on the road. After passing said hump, he accelerated yet again all the while keeping focus on what was ahead of him.

Had he looked at his rear view mirror, he would have seen a blur of yellow, orange and blue run perpendicular to the street he was passing on.

"Tsk." He clicked his tongue in annoyance. He was getting more and more lost by the second. He took a left turn on the corner and landed himself on another main road.

Hn.

Wait.

Was it just him or was this place actually familiar?

His mind screamed for him to take another left for some reason so the lad followed through. Besides, when had his brain ever left him astra—Scratch that. He could definitely recall instances where he royally fucked up because of bad decision making. Ugh, Never again.

Sasuke took one last right turn before hitting a congested street. It wasn't as if the way was teeming with cars but rather was slightly blocked by a huge mass of people whom were scrambling about.

What happened?

As if to answer his query, a series of one, two, three shots were heard just up the road. All occupants of the street, on instinct, ducked and covered. Even from inside the confines of his vehicle, Sasuke could hear deafening screams coming from outside.

He needed to get out of here and fast.

The raven-haired teen revved his engine to get the people to make way for him. Just like the Red Sea, the crowd split into two scrambling halves and let the vehicle through. He kept going straight when suddenly...

Naruto's place.

Thank God! He had a landmark! He knew where he was now!

When another round of gunshots echoed along the street, Sasuke took that as a sign to get the hell out of there _now. _The screeching of his tires against the worn out asphalt announced his speedy departure.

llllllllllllllllllll

God damn hell!

He knew he shouldn't have gone back for his guitar! Now he had a couple of wackjobs with guns chasing after him!

Let it be known that Naruto considered himself to be some grade A dumbass (as Sasuke would so kindly put it) at that moment.

The blond was currently seeking refuge in ... wait for it.

His room.

Yup.

Grade A dumbass.

Because those bastards would _definitely_ not look for him in his own house, let alone his own room. Oh! And get this! The blond lad successfully rendered himself cornered! The surrounding area was littered with men who honestly looked the 'Syndicate' part.

Absolutely fanta-fucking-tastic.

The booming sound of someone trying to get into the house had his adrenaline going haywire again.

Shit! His dad was downstairs! The man didn't know Naruto was in this sort of trouble! For God's sake, the man had no idea his own son was in the house to begin with! The young teen hoped against all hope that his father was too drunk to even get off the couch.

Screaming.

Naruto could hear his father arguing, undoubtedly, with the men outside. He stared at the guitar bag he had in his possession and glared at it. Getting the damned thing truly was an awful idea. The intensity of his glare heightened to greater proportions.

But the cross expression disappeared as fast as it made itself known and was replaced by the softening of dull blues. The Uzumaki boy tightly embraced the guitar and silently pleaded for another miracle.

He was beaten, he was angry, he was scared, he was just so _tired_. By this point, he was just desperate to get out and away from this place.

The loud roar of an engine broke the startings of Naruto's internal breakdown and created just enough chaos in the street to actually give the blond a chance to stealthily slip out without anyone noticing. Slinging his guitar bag securely around his torso, the lad backed up in preparation for a risky stunt. Naruto jumped out of his window after taking a few running steps to gain momentum and landed on the veranda of the neighbouring home.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The heart-stopping sound of gunshots had Naruto taking cover. An involuntary tear ran down his cheek due to the sheer fear he was experiencing. Those gunshots sounded like they came from inside his house.

My God. His father...

Sure, he was repulsed by the man but that didn't mean he wanted his father dead. The boy found himself hoping that those shots were just measly warning fires and nothing more.

"Hey! It's the kid!" Someone shouted from down below. No... he had been spotted. Faster than lightning, Naruto scaled down the veranda and started sprinting towards anywhere but here.

"Don't lose the kid!"

And as Naruto ran down the still slightly chaotic road, the boy vaguely heard the shrill sound of car tires rushing to the other direction.

llllllllllllllllllll

Just a little bit more,the boy chanted in his mind as he put the pedal to the floor. In anxiety, he gripped on the steering wheel unknowingly until his knuckles turned white.

llllllllllllllllllll

"I'm almost there." The young man slid and almost tripped to the ground as he stepped on a pile of small rubble. The lad was alert enough to catch himself on the fall and not let up in his impetus. The voices of a group of men just metres behind him sent his heart into a frenzied state.

_Please..._

llllllllllllllllllll

The car skidded to a halt and was sloppily parked on the middle of an adjacent street. Not even bothering to shut down the headlights, the engine, anything for that matter (because those were unimportant right now), the boy made his way to the entrance of a familiar alley. So close...

_Please..._

llllllllllllllllllll

The teen jumped up and over a series of fencing and made his last push for a sprint using the remaining give his adrenaline could muster. He squeezed the gem of his necklace around his neck as an attempt to dissuade his creeping apprehension. He was so close...

llllllllllllllllllll

_Please be there._


	15. Chapter 12

**N/A: **Hiya! So I have a day's grace period after going through hell and back with all these long tests, papers and oral exams. I've only had a total of 5 hours of sleep for the past few days. I feel so bad for myself. Haha! Anywhoooo. I'm back with Chapter 12. I'm just gonna get this out there because another round of hell will be coming up soon. This time for a longer span of time. Ugh. Can't wait for semestral break. (And yes. We have a messed up Academic year).

To Fae: Way too long! TT~TT I actually had to reread it myself. I'm really glad that you're willing to go through reading it again (Not pulling your leg or anything. I really am happy to hear you say that. haha!) I'll try to keep the updates regular. :) I just need to get through a minor school hell week and all should be well. ^_^ Plus, the story is nearing the end so I think it's my obligation now to see my baby through. Thanks for reviewing!

Also, in response to the last review: I respect your opinion and have duly noted the comment, but I will stand by my decision to have Naruto go back for his guitar. It's more of a personal decision really as I have a very ... let's call it "sentimental" reason for the twist. :) Nonetheless, I've taken the review with an open mind. Thanks.

For everyone: Thanks for reading this story guys! We're almost to the end... I think? Ahehe. And a big thank you to those who Reviewed, Followed and Favourite-ed!

A slight Anastasia reference in the chapter. ^_^ I recently acquired a soft spot for all things Russian.

**HEADS UP:** My midterms are happening next week... and the week after that, guys! Suffice to say that this month is officially hell month!. :D Yay! TT~TT So I might not be able to update this for a while. I deeply apologize! But know that I will try to get the next chapter out asap.

**Note**: This is my first time writing something of this manner. I might have gotten some stuff wrong and it might come off as badly written but... well.. bear with me on this one, please. Haha! Thanks! And also, the chapter is self proof-read. Expect the usual errors. Aheh.

***DISCLAIMER APPLIES***

* * *

**CHAPTER 12**

Sasuke speedily rounded the corner only to come face to face with an empty alley. His heart dropped to his stomach, and he bombarded himself with a thousand and one questions.

Was he too late?

Did he get the place wrong?

Did his blond get caught?

These types of queries filled his mind and managed to slowly drive him into apprehension. The young man brushed his fringe back with his hand and he fretfully groaned because not only had a thousand and one questions circled his psyche, but also a thousand and one awfully upsetting situations and outcomes. And as seconds ticked by, Sasuke began to grow more and more susceptible to a panic attack. The boy lightly pulled on his hair and did deep breaths.

He refused to break down. This wasn't the right time to be spastic because he would be vulnerable; and being vulnerable in the situation he was in now only meant certain death for him and, quite possibly, the blond he was yet to see.

Sasuke relaxed his shoulders and released a shaky breath. He decided to wait here because he was a hundred and twenty percent sure Naruto would be heading this way. The handsome lad's hands wouldn't stop shaking as he vigilantly scanned every which way of the alley.

"Come on, blockhead. Don't keep me waiting like this." He had whispered into the air and gnawed on his lip. The teen began to pace around after a half minute passed with no signs of the blond boy anywhere. Sasuke bit his inner cheek and went into a state of stupor.

Suddenly, the faint sound of something metallic falling to the ground a ways away awoke Sasuke from his reverie. That sounded like a trash bin being knocked over, he thought. The recently disowned Uchiha furrowed his brows and cautiously paced in the direction where he heard the clang of metal. Not soon after that, Sasuke's black depths widened in utter shock...

Because a boy with the most striking blond hair and God-awful orange jacket jumped up and over the alley fence. The boy landed and slightly stumbled upon himself at the other end of the street.

A wave of overwhelming relief crashed over Uchiha Sasuke at the mere sight of the blond a couple hundred metres away. The raven-haired teen felt a gravitational pull of some sort and he was now slowly jogging towards a certain orange-clad teen. Sasuke saw the other boy regain his bearing from the fall and that was when the former decided to call out.

"Naruto!"

The blond snapped his attention from the ground to the boy who was pacing towards him. In that exact moment, Naruto was overcome with a mixture of intense emotions.

He took the initial succession of steps as he breathed out a name.

"Sasuke..."

The younger lad sped up.

"Sasuke..."

And he sped up some more, ignoring the throbbing pain of his legs, the tightening of his chest, and the complete exhaustion he was experiencing. The young man on the other end of the street seemed to pick up the pace as well and was nothing but racing to the blond.

_Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke. _His mind chanted like a prayer, like it was the only word he knew. Tears started to gather at the corner of his eyes and that was the exact moment the burst of emotion occurred.

"Sasuke!" Naruto screamed.

The older teen did not let up in speed. The shout of his name only seemed to encourage him to actually pick up his already fast pace.

Almost there.

Ten metres.

He was almost there.

Five metres.

Sasuke abruptly halted causing him to slightly skid.

Four metres.

He opened his arms.

Three metres...

Two.

Naruto flung himself to the awaiting lad.

One metre.

Sasuke caught his blond and once he did a shower of frenzied kisses were exchanged between the two. The powerful pounding of their hearts seemed to sync with each other and their harsh panting in between kisses seemed to mingle. Naruto palmed Sasuke's black tresses with both his hands, relishing in its soft and silky texture. The Uchiha kept his arms around the blonds' waist and had no intention of letting go.

"S'uke..." Naruto moaned out before he found his mouth reattached with Sasuke's supple lips; neither cared if their respective lips bruised from the prolonged and desperate contact. They both admittedly needed this to ascertain that they really were in each other's presence. Sasuke let his tongue trail over Naruto's after which the former gently nipped the young boy's lower lip. The blond would have none of Sasuke's light ministrations and went in for the kill, crushing their mouths together in his need. Unfortunately, both their lungs started to scream for the much needed air so both had no choice but to cut short their pleasurable moment of reunion.

All the while panting, Sasuke kept his eyes closed as he lightly nuzzled Naruto's cheeks with his lips. Naruto, in an effort to return the favour, resorted to raining light kisses on Sasuke's accessible cheek. Naruto chose that moment of reprieve to let his tears fall. The blond gasped as he buried his head into the junction between Sasuke's neck and shoulder.

"Shh. You're fine, angel." Sasuke rubbed the shorter boy's back to offer comfort. The poor blond started to mildly shake as he just let himself cry it out. The young Uchiha used his small height advantage to try and envelop Naruto in a protective manner. "I'm here. I won't let anything like this happen to you again.", he said as he tightened his hold on Naruto. That seemed to slightly calm down the younger teen.

"Naruto." Sasuke called for the boy's attention. The blond raised his head somewhat and Sasuke took that opportunity to cup the other's cheek. The red-eyed, tear-stricken face of the boy made Sasuke's heart constrict. The raven-haired teen gently thumbed the whiskered tan cheek in a soothing motion; the action causing blue eyes to go half mast. Naruto was still hiccupping to some extent so Sasuke's solution to stop the small gasps of air was to lovingly give the other a brief tender kiss; one that sent the younger lad's heart soaring. Sasuke rested his forehead against Naruto's and gazed into blue eyes.

"I love you."

And there it was.

Naruto's eyes widened at the confession. Once the realization sunk in, the young man could barely contain his mirth. An ear-splitting smile broke out and his eyes twinkled in evident delight. Sasuke loved him. _Loved _him. The boy released a breathy chuckle.

"Ducky, I love yo—"

"This way! That boy couldn't have gotten far!" Both teens shot their attention to the general area of where the voice originated from. Naruto internally cursed. He thought he'd managed to lose those pricks already. Those fuckers had absolute perfect timing too! Just when he was about to affirm his feelings to Sasuke, they were able to get into close proximity with the blond.

"Tch. We have to go, Naruto." Sasuke interlaced his fingers with Naruto's and the boy directed the other back to his car.

"If we live through this, remind me to finish my sentence back there. Okay duckass?" Naruto's eye twitched in mild irritation. His bout of breakdown instantly forgotten as another wave of urgency overcame his senses.

"Oh, trust me. I want to hear you finish that sentence." Trust those goons to actually come close to finding them at the worst possible time.

"Fuck! There he is!" Flipping hell. The goons saw them. And here the two teenagers thought they could get out of town without a hitch. Fortunately enough, there was a considerable distance between them and the group of men. Chances of losing those idiots another time were very high.

Sasuke and Naruto turned left at the alley corner and hastily made the last few steps to the car. Both boys fluidly situated themselves in the vehicle. As Sasuke dangerously backed up, Naruto placed his guitar bag to the backseat. Within a handful of seconds, the teens took a breath to brace themselves and immediately left the vicinity.

"You're father is an ass, Sasuke." The blond said as he wiped away the remaining tear residue from his cheeks with his jacket sleeve. "No benefit from stating the obvious, blockhead." Sasuke took a sharp turn into a crude side street to avoid using any major (or even minor) roadways. The midnight-haired teen had to discern fast where he could reroute towards the only Provincial highway in town. Sasuke clicked his tongue as a thought came to mind. If rerouting was already proving to be such a feat to him, imagine actually getting past the town boundaries onto the highway. Knowing Fugaku's genius mind, he would have a horde of people manning that area.

Blue eyes took notice of the deep concentration evident within the black orbs. As if sensing what the problem was, the passenger started uttering directions. "Turn left on the next street and head straight down." Sasuke snapped out of his reverie, briefly glanced at the convinced look on his companion's features, and instinctually followed the command.

"See that slight right? Go there." The blond pointed to a dangerous-looking narrow street devoid of any streetlamps and asphalted (not even concrete) roadwork. The only source of light came from Sasuke's headlights since a series of abandoned structures surrounded the path and blocked whatever light the rising moon had to offer; and he saw how beat up and intimidating the particular street was. He hit the brakes just before entering the passage.

"What are you waiting for, Sasuke?" Naruto lightly hissed.

Sasuke warily eyed the way ahead. He had the nagging intuition that people dumped dead bodies up ahead. The passenger of the car sighed which attracted the driver's attention. "S'uke, we have to go. I know the street is terrifying. Hell, no one in their right mind would go there on any normal occasion; but it's our only shot. What _will _happen to us if we don't pass this way is far scarier than what we have to do now."

The Uchiha-no-more released a great sigh. Naruto was by all means right. He had a responsibility to preserve not just his but also Naruto's life; and he refused to let a little rich boy's fright keep him from doing so. The older teen gripped his steering wheel and proceeded down the desolate street. Just at the corner of his eye, he could see the modest smile his passenger gave.

"If a ghost ends up sitting at the back, I'm blaming you..." Sasuke attempted to jibe despite their overall current life-threatening situation.

"Hm. Sure thing, scaredy cat." The blond snickered at the other after which he looked straight ahead just as the car entered the road. "Sasuke, turn off your headlights." The suggestion had Sasuke mildly twitch. The car owner followed nonetheless because he could see the logic behind the command. If no one in their right mind would ever pass through here, then why would there be lights coming from the area? Keeping the lights on would only warrant attention and that was what they least needed as of the moment.

So with a flick of wrist, the two teenagers were engulfed in almost complete darkness.

"Naruto, I don't know where we are or where we're going." Sasuke admitted with a slight shaky voice as he manned the car ever so slowly. At his side, he could hear the fast pace of Naruto's breathing. "Just keep going straight, Ducky. This road is nearly parallel to the main highway." Sasuke nodded his head in understanding. Based from Naruto's directions, Sasuke assumed the path they were on would eventually traverse the main road which would subsequently lead them to the Provincial highway.

So Sasuke pushed on ever so slowly. He dared not go any faster than the speed they were currently on lest he blindly crashed into something in the dark. Ugh. But holy hell! His car was definitely not made t go this slow! It would take them forever to get to the main road at this rate.

"Your brother isn't such a bad guy, Sasuke."

Sasuke slightly flinched at the disruption of their silence. What had him more surprised, however, was the fact that he concurred with Naruto's statement.

Itachi... wasn't such a bad brother after all.

"Yeah." Sasuke openly voiced out his agreement.

"He told us to go the city. He said your dad won't follow us there."

"... Fuck." The raven-haired teen cursed. "I don't have cash on me." That posed to be a problem. Not having money in the city was a sure-fire way to nowhere fast. They'd be no better of there than they were here.

"Don't worry your pretty little head over that. We're covered for the next couple of weeks." As the blond said this, he patted the cash he had placed deep within his front pocket during his kidnapping escape for safekeeping.

"What do you –"

"Sasuke, there's the highway." Naruto abruptly put their conversation on hold. True enough, there the highway was, just beyond the small gap that almost wasn't big enough to fit the whole width of the vehicle. Sasuke stopped just before merging onto the lane to scan their location. It took him a few seconds to know exactly where they were. They weren't as close to the town boundary as Sasuke desired, but this would be enough.

This was it. This was the final stretch to freedom.

The boy turned on his headlights and joined the flow of traffic on the main highway. Sasuke gulped in apprehension. This was actually more terrifying to him than passing through the street they were just on. They were vulnerable now. There was no place to hide. If they got caught here, chances of them losing their pursuers would be nothing but nonexistent.

"Sasuke!"

"Shit!"

So lost was Sasuke in his thoughts that he did not notice a car that was wrongfully attempting to join the lane. The older teenager, on instinct, slightly turned his steering wheel to avoid the halfway-on-the-lane car and honked his horn.

"Fucking ass! My right of way, dumb shit!" Sasuke screamed in frustration as he glared at the car he just passed using his rear-view mirror.

"Jesus Christ, Sasuke. You should have seen that though." Naruto put his palm on his pounding chest. This day was officially THE worst day of his life.

Sasuke sighed as he muttered an apology. Suddenly, his pocket suddenly vibrated. A text? Maybe it was Itachi. "Naruto, can you grab my phone. It's in my right pocket. Someone just texted and it could be my brother. " The blond nodded at Sasuke's command. The younger teen fished through the other's jeans and successfully acquired the gadget. Naruto flipped the phone open with the goal of reading the text out loud in mind.

Unfortunately, his voice died at his throat as he saw the message sent to the phone.

"What's it say?"

"..."

"Naruto?" Sasuke peered at his companion. He worriedly furrowed his brows at the suddenly paler complexion of his blond. The whiskered boy was still looking at the phone like it had just shown him the most haunting image there was. Uchiha Sasuke reached over to his companion and snagged the mobile. Positioning the gadget in such a way that he could read the message while still being able to see the road ahead, he proceeded to peruse the text.

Sasuke's black orbs widened.

_I see you._

Sasuke felt his heart drop to his stomach. No wonder Naruto was rendered speechless. This feeling of incomprehensible fear made his throat lock up, his shoulders rigid, his stomach clench, his mind shatter. Without a doubt his passenger was feeling the same way.

Because his father had just texted and had the gentlemanly decency to inform him that they were prey in sight.

Just before Sasuke could switch to a higher gear to speed up...

BAM!

Both teens jerked to the side as the car diagonally behind slammed into their vehicle.

"Geez!" Naruto hollered in his moment of startle. He looked behind to see the damage. The boy was surprised to see that it was the same car they had just passed not two minutes ago.

"Tch." Sasuke winced at the impact. He made moves of retaliating but Naruto prevented him with a "Don't try it, Sasuke. Just speed up. Your car can go helluva lot faster than that asshole's."

"You can't expect me to just take that, Narut-"

BAM!

Another dent on his gorgeous car to keep the other company. Having just about enough of their pursuer, the raven-haired boy hastily turned his steering wheel to the right and slammed onto the harassing car. Sasuke successfully had the car wavering in its tracks but not without repercussion. The right back portion of his car had caved into the trunk, effectively shattering one of the backlights. How the hind wheels were still perfectly intact was beyond them.

"See! Just go on the defensive, chickenbutt! We can't afford to get your car beat up by this point."

Heeding Naruto's words, Sasuke went into fifth gear and floored the accelerator. They sighed when they gained a considerable distance, but know that it was too early to be feeling any sort of relief.

The sound of screeching tires alerted Sasuke's ears. Up ahead was another car swerving onto his lane in an obvious attempt to cause another collision. With his heightened reflex, Sasuke managed to manoeuvre the car to the left to avoid a head on crash. But alas, escape seemed to elude both the teenagers. On their left side was another car whose driver was obviously in cahoots with Fugaku's dogs. It looked to Sasuke that swerving left wouldn't be an option. The teen decided to head right when a deafening bang echoed from outside the car and, not a second later, the driver side window adorned a bullet-sized hole.

"Fuck!" Both the boys cursed with ardour. Sasuke briefly lost control of the wheel but thankfully managed to regain his bearings. The teen glanced to his left just in time to see who was inside the car. He noticed a familiar set of red hair. It was Pain. Tch. He couldn't stay in this position. There was the utmost need to get the hell away from the car to their left. The adolescent driver downshifted in an attempt to pull away backwards while simultaneously trying to take the lane to his right.

Another no go there. Because another car positioned itself to their right; Sasuke and Naruto were boxed in. Now, anyone with common sense would have the instinct to hit the brakes in this situation but, unfortunately, Sasuke didn't have that option anymore. The boy looked at his rear-view mirror to decide whether or not hitting the brakes would benefit them in any way. Nope. Not gonna happen. What made the whole situation ten times worse was the fact that the car behind them was none other than his daddy dearest's car and inside was good ol' father goose himself.

Another series of bullets rained upon Sasuke and Naruto, causing a few shattered glasses to fly inside the vehicle.

"God damnit! Isn't this overkill or something!" Naruto briefly had to wonder how they were still alive.

"Naruto! Keep your head down!" Sasuke barked out the order. He was panicking. The both of them would die if he didn't think up a way out of this soon.

"But Sas—"

"Just do as I say, blockhead! I'll take care of this! I don't want you dying on me now." Midnight black eyes squinted. Think, Sasuke. Think.

Naruto could only respond with a growl and did as he was told. Judging from Sasuke's expression, the older teen was deep in thought. No use starting an argument at the moment. It would only serve to be counterproductive.

Another slam against the car from their left and a bout of missed bullets. The youngest Uchiha snarled at the assault. God damn piece of shit ass mother fuck—

"Babe, calm down. You can get us out of this." Naruto, from his position, peered at his brunet and offered a small smile to dissuade the latter's growing frustration. Dull blues and jaded midnight briefly made contact. Sasuke sighed and returned his attention forward.

Wait...

Up ahead.

Sasuke triumphantly smiled at what he saw. He could get them out of this mess.

With a jerk of the steering wheel, Sasuke yet again slammed his car into the vehicle to his right.

"Sasuke! Again?!" The blond reprimanded.

"Trust me on this." Sasuke smirked to his front. Naruto followed the other's line of sight and immediately understood what Sasuke was trying to do.

"Let me help. Try to ease the ass slowly to the right. I'll take care of the rest. Plus, I don't want you further damaging your piece of art of a car." Naruto winked as he opened his window.

Sasuke widened his eyes in an instant. "What the hell! Get your head out of the window, dumbass!" He kept a firm hand on the wheel as he tried to reach over to his passenger in an effort to pull the other back in the car. Stupid! God knew Sasuke loved that boy to the core but holy hell! Naruto was so stupid!

"Don't worry! Trust me, S'uke." The blond shouted, the wind from outside somewhat drowning out his voice.

The older boy offered the other a nervous glance. It was hard NOT to worry. Naruto was practically offering his head as target practice for these criminals.

A shot or two or three (Sasuke lost his head at the first gunshot to even count) rang through the air.

"Christ!" Naruto shouted as he flinched at the bullets that barely missed him.

"God damn it! Get back in the car, Naruto! Or I swear I'll be the one to kill you if they don't!" Sasuke threatened as he bit into his lip. The brunet glanced up once more. They only had a handful of kilometres left. If they don't get to the car on their right soon, that would be it for them.

"Hey, asshole! That all you got! My ninety-year-old grandmother can drive better than you can!" That was Naruto's plan? Taunting like a child?!

The blond briefly went back in the car (earning a sigh of relief from Sasuke) before swiftly taking off his jacket and twisting the article around to form a makeshift whip.

"Ease in to the right, Ducky. I'll distract him long enough to not notice." And Naruto poked his head out, setting off another round of gunfire. Thankfully, the blond retracted his head just in time. Good God. Naruto would be the death of Sasuke. The Uchiha just knew it.

"Do me a favour and try to keep your head inside the car. Please." The driver pleaded. Sasuke slowly moved to the right. The manoeuvre was so unsuspicious that the car wouldn't take notice of their attempt but enough to make the pursuer on their right unconsciously maintain comfortable driving distance.

"Yo! Bad guy! I'm talking to you!" Naruto listened to Sasuke's request and kept most of his head inside the car. The blond proceeded to flick the jacket a couple of times against the driver side window of the next car.

"Hey! Come on! You call yourself a criminal? I bet you can't even hit me even if I'm this close! Your friends are doing an awful job by the way!" The force of the jacket's whipping motion increased, bringing about a series of tap-tap-taps against the glass. Slowly, the car's window began to open and Naruto now had a perfect visual of a barrel of a gun. Lo and behold, the one driving was the sick fuck that wanted to have a little ride on Naruto. The blond could only stare dead straight at the weapon in the man's hand.

"Hey, sweet cheeks! Too bad you pissed me off. I wanted to shag you first but it looks like killing you seems a lot more fun." The man's grey hair harshly blew against the wind. What the fuck?! Sakon's words had Sasuke whipping his head towards the perverse man. Oh, that motherfucker did not just say that! Sasuke got an eyeful at the gun that was aimed directly to Naruto's head.

Puffing out his chest, Naruto smirked as he wasn't a push of a finger away from death. "Bring it, you psycho."

The adrenaline was burning in Sasuke's body. He looked up ahead and saw the sign he had been waiting for.

Exit 500km

Caution: Fork ahead

The teen grinned as he kept one hand on the steering wheel while he situated the other on the stick shift. He was so looking forward to finally having to hurt the pervert.

"Naruto! Get down!"

As if rehearsed, Naruto immediately ducked his head; Sasuke simultaneously used his clutch and slightly hit the brakes. Half a second later, Sakon shot his gun as a reflex from the sudden movement from his target. The teen downshifted and swerved to push Sakon's vehicle further to the right.

"Little bastard Uchiha!" Sakon cursed as he was rattled by the attack. The man was paying too much attention to Sasuke's vehicle that he neglected to keep his eyes on the road. It all just happened so quickly. One moment he was wishing hell upon his boss' son and in the next he was in a head on collision with the start of the highway metal barrier.

Sakon's car crash caused the other three cars to stray from their formation. It was in this brief moment of chaos that Sasuke took his chance to occupy the rightmost lane and attempt to overtake the car in front. The raven took no heed at the sparks the squall of missed bullets was creating on his car.

As Sasuke came passed by the leading vehicle, he released a childish glare to the driver only to be taken aback by what he saw.

"It's... Itachi" Naruto supplied for him.

What was going on?

All three persons were locked into eye contact. It was dangerous, considering they were driving at more than a hundred kilometres per hour, but Sasuke and Naruto's shock seemed to drown out their common sense.

Itachi then started to fall back. Was Itachi letting them go?

The action was misleading. The reason for which Sasuke's older fell brother behind was to let Fugaku's vehicle take over the elder Uchiha brother's spot. Fugaku, who was riding shotgun, opened his window.

"Why can't you just give up, Sasuke! You're only prolonging the inevitable!" The Uchiha head shouted, the roaring wind slightly distorting his voice into a satanic mesh of words.

"Like hell I am!" As if Naruto hadn't warned him, Sasuke once again used his car to smash onto his father's. This caused Fugaku's driver to keep a measurable distance away. In all honesty, the older teen was ready to be reprimanded by his passenger. He was surprised to find that there was no reaction coming from the blond regarding the use of their vehicle as a weapon.

Sasuke passingly glanced front for the sake of their safety before looking towards his blond. Naruto was looking at his dashboard.

"Sasuke. We have less than a quarter of gas left."

The older boy's breath hitched. No way. His tank was just full, wasn't it? Sasuke looked at his gas level and, horrifyingly enough, Naruto was stating the truth. They would lose fuel soon.

A slam from behind had Sasuke and Naruto jerking forward; Itachi's car. Another slam to their left; Fugaku. If he was pushed any further to the right, Sasuke would hit the metal barrier. The metal covering of his beautiful black car was screeching and bending from the abuse.

Oh dear God.

This was it, wasn't it...

He had just successfully ruined his and Naruto's life singlehandedly.

"Hey, Ducky."

Sasuke, who had an almost nonexistent control of his vehicle from the incessant attacks, regarded his passenger. Blue eyes sparkling and all.

"I don't regret ever meeting you."

Sasuke didn't know it was possible to feel joy and heartbreak at the same time. The boy had no idea how to respond to Naruto's statement, but he tried nonetheless.

"You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, blockhead."

His heart ached in his chest; he couldn't breathe.

It hurt.

... Because it felt like they were saying their goodbyes.

Suddenly, a loud screech of tires resounded in the darkness of the evening.

The next series of events came in fast, horrible flashes.

And the last thing everyone could remember from that awful night was a car flipping over heralding its doom.


End file.
